


One of Us

by genderdefender



Series: Hope's Peak Investigations [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Imp!Kokichi, Multi, Paranormal Investigators AU, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, Sort Of, Supernatural AU - Freeform, about time i add that tag, because apparently I can't write anything without angst, not beta read because I have no friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 56,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27511783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genderdefender/pseuds/genderdefender
Summary: After banishing an imp from a man's house, paranormal investigators Shinguji Korekiyo and Saihara Shuichi find themselves with a new companion after said imp follows them home. How will Hope's Peak Investigations handle their new hyperactive addition?Kokichi causes problems on purpose, Korekiyo is struggling, and Shuichi just wants everyone to be happy.(going on a bit of a hiatus on this fic because the hyperfixation has ended and i'm struggling to write anything good. i'll be back to this, but don't expect any updates rn. sorry!)
Relationships: Saihara Shuichi/Shinguji Korekiyo
Series: Hope's Peak Investigations [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010661
Comments: 30
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back on my bullshit, boys.
> 
> Takes place six months after A Partnership Begins, but you probably don't have to read that one in order for this one to make sense. Expect a lot of headcanons. This one is a lot more shippy than that one. As it says in the description, this is a Shinsai fic, but since I'm a filthy multishipper I might make it a polyamory with Kokichi as well. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, since I know a lot of the people who read my last one are Shinsai shippers. (The story will mostly be the same either way, it'll just have romantic interactions involving Kokichi as well as the other two.)
> 
> Also, I thought I'd drop my Tumblr here since this time I'll be posting my art on Tumblr before embedding it in the fic. You can talk to me there too if you want. It's lazoptera, link is https://lazoptera.tumblr.com/

_Ding dong._ “Attention. The train is now stopping at Higate City station. Our next stop is Grand Creek. Arrival time is approximately 30 minutes.”

The tinny voice overhead repeated its message, pulling Shuichi out of the mystery novel he had been immersed in. No matter how often he traveled by train, he would never be able to tune out the announcer’s voice. Maybe that was a good thing, in the end. At least he would never miss his stop. He glanced at his travel partner sitting across from him, who was still reading his book undisturbed.

“We cannot leave for another 30 minutes, Shuichi. You may as well continue your reading.” He spoke without even looking up from his book. Either he had felt Shuichi staring, or had memorized his patterns. Both were equally likely options, knowing Korekiyo.

Since they started Hope’s Peak Investigations half a year ago, the business had been growing fast. Although at first they only got small local cases, it didn’t take long for word of their work to spread. They started getting calls from places miles away, of hauntings and demons and monsters that no one else had been able to fix. Kiyo had been ecstatic for an excuse to travel again. Shuichi had been pretty excited to finally travel with him.

So they packed their things and took a business trip, taking on as many cases as they could. It had been a hectic two and a half months, but it had also been the most fun he’d had in a long while. It wasn’t all business, of course; Kiyo had brought him along to many historical landmarks and museums between jobs. It was both educational and hilarious, as any misinformation would launch Kiyo into a tirade about how wrong it was. In fact, Shuichi was pretty sure he had learned more from Kiyo than all of their tour guides combined.

It saddened him for their trip to come to an end. They only had one case left to solve, and in a couple of days they would be back home. Of course, he was still looking forward to sleeping in his own bed- travel can really wear you out- but he was disappointed that their fun was coming to an end. Oh, well. There will be more business trips, Shuichi supposed.

“Shuichi, are you alright? You have been staring at me for a few minutes now. Is there something on my face?” Kiyo had set his book down and was looking back at him with a sarcastic gleam in his eyes.

Shuichi smiled sheepishly, having snapped out of his thoughts. “Ah, no. I was just lost in thought.”

“I assumed so. You always make the same face when you’re thinking.”

“T-Then why did you pretend like you didn’t know?!”

He laughed softly, bringing a hand to his face. “I apologize. You are simply too fun to mess with.”

“Hey!” he huffed, but he couldn’t stop a smile from slipping onto his face. “By the way, while we’re talking, have you looked over the next case? I know Hajime booked us one last appointment, but I have no clue what it is.”

Closing his book, Kiyo hummed and tapped his fingers on his knee. “A young man believes a demon is haunting his home. He claims that starting three months ago, he began hearing noises in the middle of the night and food started going missing. At first he thought someone was squatting in his house, or repeatedly breaking in, but then he saw a humanoid creature with long horns and a tail in the dark. Hajime tells me he has been blowing up the office phone for weeks now, saying the demon has been toying with him.”

“Did he specify what, exactly, the demon has been doing?”

“Things go missing only to appear later in illogical places. He finds himself tripping over nothing quite often. The pictures on his walls are tilted 17 degrees clockwise every morning. The furniture is moved half an inch to the left every three days.” Kiyo counted on his fingers, but then paused, eyes narrowing. “The fact that he has spent so much time measuring these things concerns me. Perhaps I have not been taking the situation as seriously as I should have been. The man seems to be going insane.”

Shuichi put a hand to his face in thought. “I’ve never heard of a demon doing such silly pranks. I’ve also never heard of a demon who revealed their physical form so easily.” They had come across their fair share of demonic hauntings before, so Shuichi had experience with them. Demons were very powerful creatures. They were powerful enough they could always stay hidden or invisible, and their actions were often dangerous, or even life threatening- nothing like the type of harmless tricks Kiyo was describing. “Whatever is in this guy’s house, it’s not a demon. It sounds pretty low level.”

Kiyo nodded. “That is the answer I came to as well. I assume Hajime did as well. It is just like him to assign us a simple case to finish off our trip.” He looked almost disappointed. Shuichi could relate; he also preferred a challenging mystery over an easy one. Although he was happy to not have to deal with another demon. No matter how many demonic hauntings he experienced, they still made him fear for his life every time.

“He’s good at making sure we don’t get overwhelmed with requests. That’s why we let him take over scheduling. That, and because he got fed up with our old way of doing it and forcibly took over.”

“Kehehe… yes, and we are grateful for it,” he snickered. “It is thanks to him that we can take trips like this now. His hard work frees up much of our time.”

“You do realize this is a business trip, right? I’d hardly call it free time.” Despite his words, Shuichi smiled at the fond memories flooding his mind. Sure, it was a business trip, but they had had plenty of fun, both on and off the job.

“Please. You found this trip as enjoyable as I did. What was that quote again? …’Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life’?’”

“You’re right. Guilty as charged.”

_Ding dong._ “Attention. The train is now stopping at Grand Creek station. Our next stop is Riverpour. Arrival time is approximately one hour.”

Kiyo looked up, as if he was searching for the source of the voice. “It appears this is where we get off.” Standing up, he pushed the sleeve of his coat up and checked his watch. “We have plenty of time to check into our room before the appointment. Let’s get moving, yes?”

They grabbed their suitcases and went out into the late November air. A light dusting of snow covered the ground, giving the world a white tint. Grand Creek was a relatively small suburb, with only a sparse few shops and small neighborhoods. You could easily walk anywhere you wanted to go. It was the kind of town you pass through on a long road trip, unused to long term outside visitors. In fact, when Kiyo and Shuichi had been looking for a place to stay online, they discovered the town had only one motel that was struggling to stay afloat.

The reviews were mostly poor, and looking around the small reception building while Kiyo checked them in, Shuichi had no problem believing them. It looked like the place hadn’t been renovated for decades, with old-fashioned wallpaper and musty carpeting. He made a mental note to check for bedbugs once they got their room. He wasn’t that put off, though; they had lived in much worse conditions during their trip, the rates were cheap, and it wasn’t like there was anywhere else to stay. He wasn’t picky.

He felt a tap on his back, and turned around to see Kiyo holding a key out to him. “We are in room 103,” he simply stated.

Shuichi nodded, taking the key. He followed Kiyo to their room. The style was the same as the foyer- outdated, mostly- with two beds in a cramped room separated by a small table, and one bathroom in the back. Shuichi left his suitcase near the door and peeked into the bathroom. A toilet and a shower in another cramped room, tinted yellow by a single, dim light. Well, they had dealt with worse. At least there _was_ a shower.

He returned to the main room to see Kiyo sitting criss-cross on the right bed (Shuichi always preferred the left bed) writing in a worn, pocket-sized journal.

“It looks like you’re nearing the end of that one. Are you going to need a new one soon?” he asked, pulling the covers back in a quick bedbug check. Kiyo always carried a journal in his trenchcoat pocket, and he was constantly writing in it. He had been doing it since Shuichi met him eight months ago, and he suspected he had been doing it for years before that. He had never seen inside one, but based on the frequency he assumed it was some kind of daily diary thing. He’d already watched Kiyo go through one, and it looked like he was about to finish a second. Sometimes he wondered how many he had- Shuichi was sure he had kept all of them, with how often he talked about the importance of record keeping. There were probably dozens of them.

“I am nearing the last pages, though I should be good until the end of our trip.” He closed the journal and turned it around in his hands. “I should think of what design to get next. I suppose when I get to the bookstore, I’ll simply pick the one that speaks to me the most.” The current journal was black with golden constellations, each labelled with the proper names. The one before that had ancient Egyptian art on the cover. Shuichi had gotten an hour long lecture after asking about that one.

Shuichi nodded, sitting delicately on the edge of his bed. “Our next appointment is sometime soon, right?”

“Yes. This town is small enough, we need not worry about transportation, we can simply walk. Even then, we shouldn’t leave for another fifteen minutes, lest we arrive too early.”

He hummed an acknowledgement and pulled out his phone. _Three unread messages,_ the screen read. He opened his texts.

_Kaito: yo, where r u atm_

_Kaito: u were suppsd to be in grand brook or smth today rite_

_Kaito: have u gotten there yet_

A fond smile crept onto his face. He had met Kaito in high school where the astronaut-in-training had practically forced his friendship upon him. They had been best friends ever since, and Kaito found an excuse to text him every day on his trip. It was nice to know that he had at least somewhat remembered where Shuichi was going.

_Shuichi: Yeah, we just checked into our room. We have to leave for an appointment in 15 minutes._

_Shuichi: Oh, and it’s Grand Creek, not Grand Brook._

Kaito responded almost immediately, like he had been waiting for Shuichi’s reply.

_Kaito: w/e_

_Kaito: m just so glad ur trip is almst ovr_

_Kaito: i miss hangin out w u sidekick :’( u hve been gone so long_

_Kaito: altho ig i should get used 2 it 4 when i go 2 space >:) _

_Shuichi: And how long from now will that be?_

_Kaito: a few years yet_

_Kaito: but thts beside th point_

_Kaito: wats the case this time detective_

He tried not to roll his eyes. 

_Shuichi: One, I am not a detective anymore. I’m more of a private investigator than anything. Two, it’s just another person who believes they are haunted by a demon, but me and Kiyo think it’s something else._

_Kaito: u thnk hes lyin?_

_Shuichi: No, I think he is being haunted by something, but it’s probably not a demon._

_Kaito: hh_

_Kaito: i just got shudders thinkin bout it_

_Kaito: dunno how u deal w all this occult shit its freaky_

At this, Shuichi couldn’t help but laugh.

_Shuichi: You get used to it._

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Kiyo standing up. “I believe if we leave now, we should arrive right on time. I predict we will be able to solve it within a few hours.”

“You already know what it is,” Shuichi stated. He wasn’t surprised that Kiyo already had ideas on what the man’s tormentor was. Kiyo had a year or so on him when it came to paranormal encounters and investigations. Shuichi had a lot of experience too, now, but nowhere near as much as Kiyo. He probably had ideas in his head on what the creature was immediately after hearing the man’s testimony.

“Well, I’m not sure what it is _exactly,_ but I can say I am near certain of the general type of entity. There are many low level tricksters that would act like this- faeries, imps, boggarts- although it is unlikely to be the last one since these events only started happening once he moved house…” Kiyo cradled his head in his hand, eyes glazing over as he began to mumble to himself. Shuichi gave him a second- Kiyo often did this, receding into his own head to think, but he usually snapped out of it quickly.

Sure enough, it only took a few moments before Kiyo snapped out of his internal thoughts. “Ah. I apologize for zoning out. As I was saying, it is most likely some low level trickster. General protection charms are enough to ward them off. Of course, we will still need to confirm my theory and put this man’s heart at ease. I’m not sure how much longer he can take it…” His eyes glazed over in deep thought again.

“Well, we’ve got plenty of protection charms we can give him. Let’s grab some and head out?”

Kiyo nodded. “Yes. Let’s head out.”

──────────

The walk to the client’s house was pleasant. He lived relatively close to where they were staying- maybe around a 20 minute walk- and they walked in a companionable silence. Shuichi took the time to appreciate his surroundings. While some see the early winter as gloomy, Shuichi saw it as sort of mystifying. Something about the leafless trees and the sparse white blanket that covered the earth left a sense of wonder in him. Maybe that was an emo thing to say of him, but it was true.

Before he knew it, they had reached their destination. It was a small, one story house in an equally small neighborhood. The only feature that distinguished it from the rest was a small flower bed in the front yard.

“I’ll do the talking?” Kiyo asked him. He nodded in agreement. It was no secret that Shuichi had social anxiety, and although he was getting better, business talk always stressed him out. Their clients would often complain that Kiyo’s pattern of speech was creepy, but Kiyo assured Shuichi that his comfort came before the customers’ opinions. It’s not like the complainers had anyone else to go to, anyway; HPI had a bit of a monopoly over paranormal investigations.

Kiyo tilted his head and gave him (what he assumed to be) a small smile before knocking on the door. There was a moment of dead silence before the door opened a crack.

“Hello…?” the man asked. Shuichi could barely see him between how small the crack in the door was and the fact that the room seemed to be completely dark.

“Greetings. I am Shinguji Korekiyo, and this is my partner Saihara Shuichi. We are from Hope’s Peak Investigations. You called us here on a, ah, ‘demon problem?’”

Before Shuichi could react, the door had swung open and the man had grabbed Kiyo’s wrist and was dragging him inside. “Thank the heavens you’re here! I’ve been waiting _months!_ I-I haven’t been able to sleep, I-I haven’t- you’re gonna get rid of it, right? You can get rid of it?”

Kiyo, recovered from the shock, wretched his arm away and his eyes became dark. “Touch me again and your demon will look like a saint in comparison to what I will do to you. I will take-”

Before Kiyo could traumatize the man with his colorful threats, Shuichi gently placed his hand on Kiyo’s shoulder and interrupted him. “We should be able to solve your case easily. It would be nice if you could tell us more about its actions, though, Mr…?”

The man numbly looked from the silently seething Kiyo to him, and quietly said, “Uhh… I’m Tamanaha Yoshito. Come this way…” He waved, signalling them to follow him.

He took a quick peek at Kiyo, who seemed to be calming down, before following Tamanaha down the hallway and into a small room. The room was pitch black, and Shuichi couldn’t see a thing until Tamanaha turned the lights on. When the lights did click on, Shuichi had to suppress a gasp.

The walls were covered with pictures and charts with no obvious pattern. The only thing it was missing was a red string to connect everything together. He took a step closer to the wall. This specific part was a series of daily photos of the living room. Each photo was labelled with a date, and then a measurement. Next to the photos was a table full of what seemed to be random numbers. The pictures went from floor to ceiling, and there were more than Shuichi could count. Kiyo mentioned his furniture was being moved. Was this a day by day record of the movements?

“I am not the type to judge, but we did not come here to witness your pornography collection.”

Huh? “Kiyo, what are you talking about-” He turned around to see Kiyo staring at the opposite wall, which he now noticed was covered in explicit pictures.

“What do you- Oh, this is exactly what I mean!” Tamanaha rushed over and started quickly tearing the pictures down. “It’s always doing this, putting embarrassing stuff everywhere to try and rile me up. I’m sorry you had to see that. It must have known I would want to show you my evidence, so it put it up to embarrass me!”

Kiyo hummed. “Interesting. So, Mr. Tamanaha, in this room is proof of all the ways your demon has tormented you?”

“Yeah! I’ve been collecting it for months.” He seemed proud of himself.

Kiyo slowly walked around the room, every so often stopping and leaning in to read something. Soon he was looking at the same series of pictures Shuichi was standing in front of.

“So, do you have the proof you need?” Shuichi asked.

“Yes. Everything this so-called ‘demon’ does, they’re all harmless pranks. As I said before, it could be any number of tricksters, but they’re all warded off by the same charms. It would have been great to actually witness the creature in action…” he stole a glance at their client, and lowered his voice, “but I would like to leave as soon as possible.” Obviously, Kiyo had formed a grudge against their client and was not going to drop it any time soon.

Shuichi gently touched his shoulder. “That’s okay. We’ll give him the charms and finish up. I can handle it if you want.”

He furrowed his brow, but eventually nodded. “That is probably for the best. I’m sorry. I do not want to lose my temper again.”

Shuichi smiled. Kiyo hated it when strangers touched him, and could get irrationally angry over it. Even though he was very comfortable with Shuichi, he still sometimes snapped at him when he touched him unexpectedly. After being roughly grabbed by a man he just met, Kiyo was probably still struggling to keep himself from blowing up or freaking out again. Honestly, Shuichi was ready to get away from this guy, too. Even being in his ‘evidence’ room was giving him the creeps.

He turned around and faced their client. “Okay, Mr. Tamanaha. We know what to do now.”

“Really?!” He ran up to Shuichi and held his hand between his own, shaking it vigorously. “Oh, thank you, thank you, I can’t wait to have peace in my own home again!”

Laughing awkwardly, Shuchi gently pulled his hand away from Tamanaha. “Yeah… Well, the good news is, it isn’t a demon.”

“It’s not?” he gasped. “But… but I saw it! It had horns and a tail, just like the Devil!”

Shuichi saw Kiyo open his mouth to speak but then quickly close it. Wow, you had to really piss Kiyo off to stop him from lecturing you on Catholic demonization of pagan religious imagery. It was one of his favorite topics to teach people. It looked like Shuichi would have to do it for him, for once.

“Yes well… a lot of Christian imagery of demons are based on other creatures from other mythos. Demons are very powerful and highly dangerous. If it was a demon, it probably would have killed you by now,” he bluntly said. When the other man’s eyes widened, he continued, “S-So it’s a good thing that it’s not! A demon, that is. What you have here is some low level entity that likes playing tricks, like a faerie or imp.”

“I thought imps were demons!”

“Ah, um, well, they’re not. In the media, they often are portrayed as such, but they are not connected to Christianity or demons or Satan or whatever. Good news is, all these trickster creatures are very low level, so uh, most protection charms will keep them out of your house.”

Tamanaha looked like he wasn’t really paying attention anymore, probably still hung up over the demon thing. “Uh… protection charms…?”

He pulled a bag out of his satchel, filled with charms he had brought to give him. “Yeah. There are a lot of different items that are known for protecting against supernatural creatures. Like horseshoes, or four leaf clovers.” He pulled the charms out of the bag as he spoke about them.

“I thought those were good luck charms.”

“Charm meanings change and blur as time goes by. They’re probably good luck charms too, but we can also use them for protection against the supernatural.” He practically shoved the bag into Tamanaha’s chest. “Here. Take these. Don’t worry about paying for them, they’re all pretty cheap. Place these around your house, and carry one on you, and the creature should leave you alone. Call us back in a week or so if it doesn’t stop, and we’ll take another look, but we’re almost 100% sure this will fix your problem.”

He swore the man started crying as he lunged at Shuichi, pulling him into a tight hug. “Thank you so much! I can’t express how much this means to me.”

Awkwardly patting his back, Shuichi shot a pleading look at Kiyo, asking him with his eyes to ‘ _please get him off me.’_ Kiyo obliged, clearing his throat as he walked up to them and gently pulled Tamanaha back by his shirt collar.

“We are going to take our payment and leave now. Call us back if your problem persists,” he recited a memorized line. Tamanaha looked terrified as he shakily but quickly nodded his head. Shuichi guessed Kiyo’s earlier threat shook him more than he originally let on.

“Yeah, uh, just lemme get my wallet…” He wandered out of the room. Scanning the walls of the insane ‘evidence’ room one last time, Shuichi made eye contact with Kiyo. He blankly stared back, and then took his phone out and snapped a few photos of the room.

“Shuichi. Let’s go. This room makes me uncomfortable.”

Even Kiyo was unsettled by this mess. That was concerning. “Yeah, let’s.”

──────────

“I know we’ve definitely seen stranger things in our time, but that guy scared me.”

They had returned to their hotel room after a quick dinner, exhausted from dealing with their bizarre client. Shuichi was lying on his back in bed while Kiyo took his time in the bathroom. Getting away from the situation had helped them calm down, but Shuichi was still slightly worried about the man and his mental state. Hopefully, with his tormentor taken care of, his obsession will go away with it.

“He is not the worst client I have dealt with,” Kiyo called from the bathroom. “Once, I met a man who was certain his dead loved one had come back to life. His family called me there to investigate it, concerned for him. I discovered it was a shapeshifting ghost that was taking advantage of his grief. When I told him as such, he attempted to kill me.”

“You never told me that story!” he gasped. Kiyo had almost died? That was horrible!

“I can hear your worried thoughts all the way in here.” Kiyo slipped out of the bathroom and gently leaned against the wall. He had changed into his pajamas, a long white nightgown and cotton mask. Between the clothes and his long, black hair, he almost looked like a ghost himself. A beautiful, ethereal ghost. 

...Yeah, okay, that was kind of a gay thing to say, but could you blame him?

“I do not make a habit out of telling people my near-death stories. They frighten people, and they are not usually good memories.” Despite the dark tone (and implication that he had _multiple_ near-death experiences), his eyes were gleaming as if behind his mask he was smiling playfully.

“Can I ask what happened?” he said, sitting up.

“Of course. You are a very close friend of mine, so I feel safe confiding in you.” He sat on his bed facing Shuichi, legs hanging off the side. Shuichi’s heart warmed. He knew Kiyo had trust issues, so hearing how much Kiyo trusted him made him happy. “When I first told him, he seemed shaken, but appeared to take it well. He invited me in for tea to ‘thank me,’ but… well, I did not refuse, but I did not drink it. I suppose I was lucky. The only reason I knew he poisoned it was because his mother came and drank some while he was out of the room.”

“His mother?! Was she okay?”

“He came back not long after she drank the tea. Since he knew it was poisoned, he panicked and called an ambulance. The levels of poison in the tea was far beyond lethal; she would have died in hours if she had not gotten immediate help. Funny that she complained it tasted bad but drank it anyway. I suppose she did not think her son would do such a thing.”

Shuichi hummed, thinking it over. “Why… didn’t you drink the tea? Were you suspicious of him?”

Silence fell upon the room and the air became thick. Shuichi was about to retract his question, afraid he had struck a nerve, but-

“I, um, I just do not drink tea I have not prepared myself. It’s just, uh, something I do not do.” He looked down and averted his eyes, fidgeting with his fingers. Whatever this was, it was not something Kiyo trusted Shiuchi with. He wouldn’t lie, it hurt a little for Kiyo to tell him he trusted him and then proceed to not trust him, but Shuichi knew he would tell him if he felt comfortable. After all, there were things Shuichi was keeping from Kiyo as well. It would be hypocritical to bash him for it.

“That’s okay. I get it.” Whether he was talking about the story or the obvious deflection, he wasn’t sure. “It’s getting kind of late. I think I’m going to sleep. You probably should too.”

“I… yes, yes, I should. There’s a museum not far from here I would like to visit tomorrow. It would be a shame if I was too tired to enjoy it.” He scooted back in his bed to lie down. “Good night, Shuichi.”

“Yeah. Good night.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi and Kiyo have a nice day at the museum! Not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi and Kiyo are gay lol  
> Kokichi finally shows up in this chapter! I struggled a lot with writing him, so hopefully he's not too ooc D:  
> Also, there's brief description of an anxiety attack in this chapter, so heads up if that'll bother you!

The next day, Kiyo had woken him up early. The museum he wanted to go to was a ways out from Grand Creek and he wanted to get there when they opened so he wouldn’t be pressed for time. If it was anyone else, Shuichi would have argued they didn’t need the entire day for one museum, but he knew Kiyo liked to spend a lot of time reading everything and taking notes on it. So, although he may have grumbled about the time (he was not a morning person), he didn’t complain much beyond that.

That’s why he was on a bus at 8:30 AM. They had already been riding for an hour, and Shuichi hadn’t asked where the museum actually was, so he didn’t know how much longer it would be. If it was early for Shuichi, then it was _definitely_ too early for Kaito, so he couldn’t text him for entertainment, and Kiyo was busy writing something or other in his journal, and he didn’t want to bother him.

So instead, he took to people watching. It was something he and Kiyo had in common, watching the people surrounding them and trying to figure out their situations. Sure, some may say it was creepy or maybe invasive, but Shuichi figured as long as they kept their opinions to themselves, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Or maybe, he was just making excuses for his weird behavior. Shuichi couldn’t quite say either way.

The bus wasn’t very crowded that morning, so there weren’t that many people he could inconspicuously watch. He did see a very tired looking man in scrubs; he had determined he probably worked the night shift at a hospital, and was headed home. Then, there was a young woman drawing still lifes in a sketchbook with a backpack; he assumed she was an art student of some kind.

The last was a bit peculiar, though. He looked very young- maybe middle school, or even late elementary school- and he wondered why he was alone on a bus this early in the morning. He looked much too young to be here on his own, but Shuichi couldn’t find anyone that seemed like his parents. His clothes were even stranger; he had a dark hat that reminded him of a ship captain’s, and a black cape like a cartoon villain. Under it, he could swear the kid was wearing a modified straight jacket.

He had a game console in his hand that he was tapping away at incessantly. It didn’t even look like he was playing a game to Shuichi, more like he was smashing random buttons for the hell of it. Then, he stopped assaulting his game, and looked up at Shuichi…

...who realized he had been staring at him for the past five minutes and probably looked like an insane stalker.

Luckily, the boy seemed unperturbed, and simply waved ecstatically at him before going back to his game. Shiuchi quickly looked away, embarrassed. Lightly tapping Kiyo’s hand, who was sitting right next to him, he asked, “How much longer do you think it’ll be?” wanting a distraction.

“We are almost there. Not long now,” Kiyo assured him.

“You know, I don’t think you’ve actually told me what’s in this museum.”

“I haven’t? I apologize. It’s a history museum with a focus on medicines throughout the ages. Medicine prevents illness, and illness causes death, and it is important to humanity to prevent death. Therefore, the status of medicine and illness causes great changes to culture.”

“So that’s why you’re so interested in it.”

“I am interested in history in general, but yes, it is true that medicine is something I am especially interested in. I did try to think of you while picking this out as well, though. They have an extensive exhibit on poisons, which I thought you may like based on your interest in forensic science.”

Shuichi smiled, happy that Kiyo had thought of him. “You thought correctly. It sounds like a lot of fun.”

Kiyo laughed quietly. “I’m glad.”

──────────

Surprisingly, the museum was a pretty popular place. It wasn’t extremely crowded, but there were a decent number of people waiting in line to enter. Shuichi was especially surprised to see many families with young children, whom he thought would have been bored at a historical museum.

The building was also much larger than he expected, and he was starting to understand why Kiyo thought it may take all day. If you were just looking, you could probably make it through in a few hours, but Kiyo took his time reading and absorbing every bit of information, along with writing it in his notebook. Much like he was doing now.

“Fascinating…” he mumbled, standing in front of an exhibit on medieval medical theories. “Their assumptions on illness were completely wrong, and yet they still came to the correct conclusions on treatments. The human mind is such a wonderful thing, able to create advanced solutions without knowing much about the problem…” he trailed off, opting instead to write more notes in his journal.

He peeked at the sign Kiyo was reading. “...I don’t really get it. Can you explain it to me?”

The other’s golden eyes lit up with childlike excitement. He always got like this when asked about his interests, letting go of his usual mature persona to ramble on about whatever topic he was currently fixated on. Shuichi found it endearing, and he wished Kiyo would let himself talk like this more often.

He inhaled deeply. “Since the dawn of humanity, people have attempted to figure out the ways of the world. Why things happen the way they do. And, of course, death is the most important mystery of all. Why do we die? And how can we prevent it? So, obviously, people have been making theories and assumptions about death as long as we have been able to- _OUCH!”_

He cut himself off with a yelp as he suddenly fell back, as though he had been pulled backwards.

“K-Kiyo! Are you okay?” He offered his hand to hoist Kiyo up, who was sitting on the ground rubbing the back of his neck. 

“I’m… yes, I’m okay, just… It felt like someone pulled my hair,” he said as he took Shuichi’s hand and was pulled up.

“Pulled your hair? But…” He looked around the room. “We’re the only people in here right now. A-And I didn’t do it!” he added.

“Do not worry. I know it was not you. The trajectory of my fall shows it must have been someone behind me, not next to me.” Kiyo did a scan of the room as well, still holding his neck. “Maybe whoever did it left the room. But I must wonder why they targeted me.”

“It was probably just a kid who thought your hair was pretty, and then they got scared and ran away after you fell,” Shuichi deduced, holding a hand over his mouth as he got lost in thought.

“Hmm… My hair, pretty…” Kiyo absentmindedly muttered, unconsciously twirling his hair around a finger. He said it quietly, probably to himself, but Shuichi heard and immediately became aware of what he said.

“I-I mean, yeah, your hair is pretty! Objectively speaking. Objectively speaking, your hair is pretty. It’s not that _I_ think your hair is pretty- well, no, I do think your hair is pretty, but I’m sure everyone thinks your hair is pretty! Because, objectively, it is!” Shuichi turned red and looked down as he proceeded to nervously blurt out everything he was thinking. _Wow, Shuichi, nice going. I don’t think it’s possible to shove your own foot further down your throat._

His internal screaming was cut off when a warm hand brushed against his own. “Don’t be flustered. I’m… glad you think my hair is pretty.”

Shuichi looked up in surprise. Kiyo was looking away from him, and he swore he could see pink on his cheeks peeking out over his mask. The hand on his other side was clutching his journal tightly. He looked embarrassed, which was _not_ an expression he was used to seeing on Kiyo’s face. It was adorable. He moved his hand closer to the other’s, lightly holding it.

“Ah, so, um…” Kiyo stuttered, but then cleared his throat and regained his calm persona. “I’m done in here. I believe the next exhibit is on Ancient Egypt, which had very advanced medical practices for the time. Did you know the ancient Egyptians could treat cataracts? Their methods were not perfect, and could not completely fix the patient’s sight, but the fact that they could successfully operate on such a fragile organ is amazing.” He started to lead Shuichi out of the room, hands still together.

As they left, Shuichi took one last look behind him, and made eye contact with a familiar face. The strange boy in the hat and cape was standing in the corner, looking back at him with a wide, slightly unsettling grin. Shuichi could have _sworn_ the room was empty before. Was this kid the one to pull Kiyo’s hair and make him fall? Shuichi would have stopped to ask him about it, except that he was plagued with social anxiety and was currently being dragged away by an enthusiastic Kiyo. It was probably just a stupid one-time thing, anyway. He tried to push the weird kid out of his mind and focus back in on Kiyo.

──────────

What Shuichi had assumed to be a ‘stupid one-time thing’ ended up being repeated offense. They had only been there three hours, and already the pair had been tripped and shoved countless times. To the other museum visitors, they probably just looked like a very clumsy couple, but they were sure there was someone or some _thing_ bothering them.

Every time Shuichi tripped, there was an invisible foot he tripped over. Every time he was shoved into a wall or onto the ground, he could feel phantom hands on his back or side. Kiyo said it distinctly felt like someone tugging when his hair was pulled. There was no doubt in their minds that they were being messed with.

It was starting to dampen their fun as well. While Kiyo had been acting excited and happy near the beginning of their visit, his mood had become more of his usual calmness, but Shuichi had known him long enough to see the frustration seething below the surface. He could tell the silent taunting was getting to him. Shuichi would be lying if he said it wasn’t bothering him, too, but he knew Kiyo had been looking forward to today and for it to be ruined by some invisible menace… Well, to say he was angry would probably be an understatement.

He had yet to tell Kiyo, because he didn’t want anyone to get arrested for assault of a child today, but Shuichi was 90% sure that the boy in the hat and cape was somehow involved. Firstly, Shuichi could recognize stalking. He prided himself on his observational skills, the same skills that labeled him as a detective prodigy when he was younger. The young boy had been following them nonstop since Shuichi first noticed him earlier that morning.

Secondly, after every single incident, the boy would be staring at them. Staring at them like he had known it would happen, and was watching to see what they would do. And every time Shuichi saw him in those moments, he would give the same uncanny grin. Like he was expecting it. Like he knew Shuichi suspected him and was waiting for him to snap.

“Argh!”

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a yelp of pain and a dull thud. He turned around to see Kiyo rubbing his head with one hand, the other in a tight fist. “D-DAMN IT!” he yelled, clenching his eyes shut while tears threatened to spill out.

Suddenly aware that there were people staring at them, he rushed to Kiyo’s side. “Hey, hey, what happened? Are you okay?”

“Shuichi, I…” He opened his eyes and looked down at him with a mix of pain and anger on his face. “Th-The fiend pulled my head back while I was exiting the room, and I-I hit my head hard on the doorframe. A-And it hurts.” As he spoke, his breathing became more and more erratic. Then as he looked around and remembered there were other people there staring at them, he started muttering incoherently between shuddering breaths.

Oh. Shuichi knew an anxiety attack when he saw one. He suffered from them often himself. “Hey, Kiyo? Can you- Take a deep breath with me, okay?” Shuichi tried to remember the techniques that helped him personally. They breathed together- in and out, and in and out- until he felt Kiyo was no longer on the verge of full-on panicking.

“How are you feeling now?” he asked.

The response was immediate. _“I’m sorry,”_ he whispered, voice soft and shaking.

“You don’t have to apologize, it’s not your fault. Hey, how about this? It’s about lunch time, and I saw a little cafe with sandwiches and stuff near the entrance. We can eat something and rest a little. Does that sound good?” Wow, he hoped he didn’t sound patronizing. 

Kiyo must have not thought so, because he just gave a little nod and apologized again. He was out of it, eyes dull and staring off at nothing. “Can I touch you? Just until we get to somewhere you can sit down.” Another small nod. He gently wrapped his arm around the Kiyo’s and led (or more dragged) him in the direction of the cafe. This time, he didn’t bother to hide his glare at the boy in the cape that, like always, was staring at them from across the room. Surprisingly, for once, he didn’t get a grin in return.

The walk was mainly silent as Shuichi dragged a dissociative Kiyo along to the cafe. He got better as they went along, though, for he slowly started responding to Shuichi’s questions and engaging in conversation. By the time they arrived, he was mostly back to normal, albeit a little slow.

He led Kiyo to a bench outside the cafe, gently moving him down onto it. “Here, you can sit here and I’ll get something to eat.”

“Alright. Again, I must apologize for losing my senses.”

“And, again, I’ll tell you it’s not your fault, so you don’t have to apologize.” When Kiyo looked up at him with some unidentifiable emotion in his eyes, he continued, “Look, I’m gonna get us some lunch. I’ll be right back.”

The cafe was moderately busy. Even though they had a quick grab-and-go style, the line was long enough that it took him a decent amount of time to get through. It didn’t seem like too long to Shuichi, but apparently he was gone long enough for Kiyo to get caught up in a very hyperactive conversation with a stranger.

A stranger none other than the mysterious boy himself.

He was waving his hands around quickly as he spoke, occasionally stopping for Kiyo to answer him. Every so often he would laugh loudly in response. Shuichi came closer to eavesdrop.

“-and then we came in with a helicopter and I decapitated him! That’s when I took over Prussia!”

“Prussia? I thought you said this was the story of how you took over Russia.”

“Ooooh, did I say Russia earlier? I misspoke. I meant Prussia.”

“Kehehe… I think not. Prussia no longer exists.” There was a pleased glint in his eyes. The boy seemed to be cheering him up, at least.

“Well, of _course_ it doesn’t exist any longer, silly! I changed the name in 1993!”

“Ah, but you told me at the beginning of this story that this happened after you orchestrated the attacks on 9/11, which happened in 2001. And Prussia didn’t exist in 1993, either.”

“I don’t remember saying that!”

“It is obvious that at least some part of this story is false. In fact, I’m inclined to believe you don’t even know where or what Prussia was.”

The boy’s face went blank for a moment, but then an even brighter smile spread across his face and his eyes twinkled. “Wow! You’re right! I only know that Prussia existed because of an anime.”

“It was an amusing tale anyway. A tale being untrue does not make it any less enjoyable.”

“Tell that to the internet,” he laughed half-heartedly, and quickly changed the subject. “Hey! You deserve a reward for seeing through my lie.” The boy started digging through his pockets.

Kiyo quirked an eyebrow. “What? I do not require anything. Just the conversation was enough for me. And your lie was obvious, anyone could have seen through it.”

“No, no, you do. Hey, do you like chocolate?”

“I… I suppose so-” He was cut off as the boy shoved a prepackaged chocolate chip cookie into his chest. Kiyo looked down to the cookie, then back up at the boy. “Um. Thank you?”

They stared at each other for a long moment. “...Aren’t you going to eat it?” he asked.

Kiyo slowly blinked. “Maybe later.”

“Lie!” the child yelled. “You said you like chocolate, and that wasn’t a lie, so… Oh! Do you think I poisoned it?”

When Kiyo didn’t respond immediately, he continued, “Oh, that’s _actually_ the reason you won’t eat it? That’s a little freaky, but here, I’ll prove I didn’t poison it. Just for you!” he said with a singsong voice. He snatched the cookie back from Kiyo, opening it. Then he broke off a piece and popped it into his mouth. “Mmm! Tasty! No poison in here!”

Kiyo only raised an eyebrow suspiciously. 

“Oh, come on, man! How much proof do you need?! Here,” he broke off another piece and moved it towards Kiyo’s face, “I’ll feed it to you!”

Okay, it was time for Shuichi to step in. Well, Shuichi probably should have stepped in much earlier instead of watching them like a stalker, but what could he say? He liked observing.

“Hey, Kiyo. Who is this?” He walked up next to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. He realized he was acting possessive, and that Kiyo could talk to who he wanted, but Shuichi was 99.7% sure now that this boy was at least partially involved with their misfortune now. Misfortune that had led to Kiyo suffering an anxiety attack.

“Woah, heel boy, I’m not trying to steal your girlfriend. Just proving this cookie I’m giving her is safe,” he said matter-of-factly, not even looking at Shuichi.

“Wha- I- You- We’re not dating?” Shuichi sputtered. “And Kiyo’s a man!”

The boy squinted at him, and then turned to Kiyo and leaned far into his face. “Hmm… Could have fooled me.”

“Th-That’s really rude! It doesn’t matter what he looks like, he’s still-”

“Shuichi,” Kiyo interrupted him, softly touching his arm. “I believe he knows. Earlier, he said, ‘Come on, man,’” he made air quotes, “and although I am aware some call all genders by the same gendered words, I believe it is more likely based on his previous behavior that he knows I am male and is now lying to rile you up.”

The boy whistled. “Oh, I’m impressed. He’s right. I wasn’t even referring to that, anyway. You two act like you’ve been dating for years.”

“Okay, kid, where are your parents?” Even if Kiyo seemed fine with this brat’s behavior, Shuichi was quickly getting fed up.

“My parents…?” He put a finger to his mouth and looked up in thought. “No clue! Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever met my parents in all my 23 years of life!”

Oh.

“Oh.”

Shuichi rubbed the back of his neck, frowning and averting his eyes. “God, I’m so sorry. It was rude and hypocritical of me to make assumptions like that.” He felt so embarrassed. How many times was he going to make a fool of himself in front of this kid- no, man?

“What’s this? I think my parents are calling me! I better go, you know, my mom told me not to talk to strangers!” He smiled wolfishly and leaned into Kiyo’s face again, dropping the cookie in his lap. “I’ll talk to you sometime later, Kiyo-chan!” Then, he ran away before either of them could get a word in.

“Well that was… interesting.” He sat down on the bench. “Did you ever get his name?”

“No. I never told him mine, either. He most likely found it out from you.”

“Ah. Sorry? Well, I brought you a sandwich. Turkey and cheese.”

“Thank you, Shuichi.” He grabbed the proffered sandwich.

They ate in a comfortable silence. Shuichi wanted to start a conversation, but he was unsure of what to say. His mind kept wandering back to the mysterious boy. He was still highly suspicious of him and his involvement in their morning misery. On the other hand, Kiyo had obviously enjoyed being in his company, or was at least interested in him. Shuichi would be lying if he said he wasn’t interested too. Something about the compulsory lying made everything he said a puzzle. Really, the boy himself was a mystery waiting to be solved.

“That boy… I wonder if we will see him again today,” Kiyo muttered, half to himself. He rewrapped his half-eaten sandwich and set it in his lap, next to the cookie.

“Are you already done eating?” Half a sandwich didn’t really seem like enough, especially when they rarely ate breakfast.

“Huh? Oh, yes, I wasn’t that hungry.” He seemed surprised, as if he wasn’t expecting that question at all.

Shuichi was unconvinced. “Well, at least make sure to tell me if you get hungry later. And you’ve still got a cookie,” he laughed.

“Of course. The cookie. The definitely-not-poisoned cookie from a stranger I wholeheartedly trust.”

“You don’t- You don’t actually think it’s poisoned, do you?”

“Never trust anything, Shuichi. Especially not free food from strangers.” He looked dead serious. “But… I _suppose_ he did prove to me it wasn’t poisoned. So fine. If I get hungry, I will eat the suspicious cookie.”

They shared a laugh. “Would you like to head to that poison exhibit next?” Kiyo asked.

“Sure. Just let me finish eating.”

Kiyo’s eyes sparkled as he smiled behind his mask. He put his hand in the pocket where he held his journal, most likely going to write while he waited for Shuichi to eat. However, instead of pulling out his journal, his face fell. He checked the opposite pocket, but came up empty handed.

“I… I lost my journal?” he said in disbelief. “I have been writing in it all day, when did I manage to lose it?”

“Well… maybe you set it down or dropped it somewhere. We can retrace our steps and look for it.”

“Impossible. I have actively been writing in it this entire time. The only time I could have dropped it was… when I lost my composure earlier.” He couldn’t tell if Kiyo was furious with himself or the world in general. Probably both. His journaling was really important to him, and to lose one because of what Kiyo felt was a personal fault was probably tearing him up inside.

“We’ll look for it. I’m sure we’ll find it,” Shuichi said in an attempt to comfort him. Kiyo looked skeptical. Shuichi wasn’t 100% sure himself.

Nonetheless, they searched the museum. They walked back to every exhibit they visited, looking around the floor and on tables for the missing journal. They spent an hour scouring the rooms, but there were no books to be seen. Or at least no books that weren’t part of the exhibits.

They asked the front desk if anyone had brought them a lost journal, but they said no one had even mentioned one. Kiyo started asking other people if they had seen it, getting more frustrated and desperate with each ‘no’. At some point, Shuichi decides he better stop Kiyo from asking any more visitors lest he traumatize one. Physically or emotionally.

“I’m sorry, Kiyo, but… I don’t think we’re going to find it.” He placed his hand on his back in an attempt to comfort him. He isn’t sure if it was working, as Kiyo simply looked at him with eyes that were devoid of life. “We can leave if you want. Maybe being alone for a while would make you feel better?”

“No, Shuichi. I have been doing little more than dragging you behind me all day. I specifically chose this museum so we could _both_ enjoy it. Even if we do not visit any other exhibits today, we are at least visiting the history of poisons for you.”

Shuichi would have assured him that he didn’t have to push himself for Shuichi’s sake, but Kiyo looked dead serious. “Alright. We do the poison exhibit, then we go back to the motel. I’m starting to get a little stressed being around so many people, anyway.” It wasn’t a _complete_ lie, but hopefully it would make Kiyo feel less like he was burdening or annoying Shuichi, which seemed to be what he was currently struggling with.

“Alright. Let us be on our way.” He took off ahead, while Shuichi followed close behind. To an outsider, Kiyo wasn’t acting too differently than usual. He was calm, slightly aloof, and quiet. But Shuichi knew him better than that. He knew losing that journal felt like the end of the world for him. He knew that he was screaming and crying inside over it. He knew that he would be outside as well if he didn’t feel like he had to bury his emotions for reasons unknown to Shuichi. He wished he knew how to help him.

Kiyo hummed, breaking Shuichi from his thoughts. “I am quite unfamiliar with this topic, but I understand you know quite a bit, correct? I would love to learn from you.”

“Ah, um, most of what I know is in the realm of criminal justice, but yeah, I’ve done a fair share of research on poison.” They spent the rest of their time at the museum trying to at least enjoy a small bit of their day there. Shuichi told Kiyo everything he had learned about poisons, and then recounted murder cases he had researched that involved them. Although he was spacing out a bit, Kiyo tried to actively listen and contribute. By the time they left, Shuichi had almost forgotten about the day’s misfortune, having enjoyed his time with Kiyo anyway.

While ranting to Kiyo about inaccuracies of poisonings in fictional murder mysteries, he vaguely registered that they hadn’t seen that strange boy in the cape since he ran away from them at lunch.

──────────

By the time they had gotten back to Grand Creek, it was around dinner time. Neither felt very hungry, so they just grabbed something quick and returned to their room at the motel. Immediately when they entered the room, Shuichi felt all his energy leave him at once. The day must have taken more out of him than he thought. Kiyo was also exhausted, so they decided it would be best to retire early.

“Hey… are you okay?” he said softly, leaving the bathroom. Kiyo was sitting on his bed, reading something on his laptop.

“It is only one journal. It does not matter that much in the long run.” His voice was monotone and he didn’t even look up.

“But it does matter to you, right?”

He sighed deeply. “Yes. It does matter to me, but it shouldn’t. I will survive.”

“You’re allowed to be upset, Kiyo. That journal had like, a few months worth of writing in it. I would be upset, too.”

Kiyo gave him a blank look before slowly shaking his head. “I am tired. We should get to bed.”

He really wanted to keep pushing, but he was too tired for the likely emotionally draining argument that would arise from it. He made a mental note to press it the next time it came up. For now… well, he knew when it was time to drop a topic.

They both quickly finished their nighttime routines and turned off the lights. Even though he was exhausted, it took Shuichi a long time to fall asleep. He had too many thoughts swirling around his head. Some were rather base: excitement for going home tomorrow, or homicide cases involving poisoning, to name a few. But others were more thought provoking, and harder to clear from his mind. Like who that mysterious boy was, and how he was involved with their constant trips and falls that morning. Or why Kiyo refused to show his feelings even when he was obviously and righteously upset. Or what Shuichi could possibly do to help.

The only reason he knew he fell asleep is because he distinctly remembered waking up to the sound of angry yelling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi: I went too far and now I feel bad :( How do I fix it? With a cookie, of course!  
> I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, it'll make sense when I post the next chapter I swear D:


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiyo and Shuichi have a surprise visitor before they go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a little shorter, but the cutoff between this chapter and the next was perfect, and the next chapter is a little longer so it's fine. I'll be honest, I'm not that happy with this one? But there's art so hopefully that makes up for it.  
> Reminder, this art is also being posted on my tumblr lazoptera so if you see it there, don't worry, it's me.

“Ah! Wh-What is-  _ you!” _

Shuichi startled awake, the loud yell snapping him out of his light sleep. “What the hell is going on?” he rasped, voice groggy. It was still dark, and he could barely make out anything in the room. “Wait, I’m going to turn on the light.”

He flicked the lamp on, and once his eyes adjusted…

“What the fuck?!”

Sitting criss-cross on the end of Kiyo’s bed was the strange boy who had been stalking them at the museum. However, this time, he had shed his hat and cape, revealing more of the bizarre white outfit and checkered scarf he wore underneath. Even more concerning, however, were the long black horns that protruded from his head, fluffy black tail, and little batlike wings that were too small to be useful. It was obvious this man was far from human.

He knew that boy was trouble!

“Why- how- what-” he sputtered, lost for words. Kiyo simply stared with an unreadable expression.

“You know, Kiyo-chan, you sleep like a corpse. I was sitting here for hours before you woke up! You even sleep on your back like you’re in a coffin.” He had a mischievous smile on his face as he rocked back and forth. “Also, you seriously sleep in a mask? Is the bottom half of your face missing or something?”

“How did you get in here?” Shuichi asked.

“Who are you?” Kiyo asked, at the same exact time.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry! I’ll answer aaaall your questions,” he said, making large motions with his hands. “Firstly, I’m Ouma Kokichi! You better remember the name well, because I’m a big, scary, all-powerful, bloodthirsty demon, and I’ll kill you if you forget it! To answer  _ your _ question,” he pointed at Shuichi, “I just picked the lock to the door to get in here. This place is really behind the times, huh? All the other motels have moved onto keycards.” He laughed brightly.

“Even if you picked the lock, I used the chain bolt,” Shuichi stated.

“Oh, that? I just cut it. You really think that little thing can keep intruders out? Don’t be an idiot.”

Putting a hand to his head, Kiyo sighed heavily. “It is much too early for this. Alright, ‘demon’,” he air-quoted, “why are you here?”

“W-What do you mean, ‘demon’? D-do you not believe me?” Kokichi sniffed, and tears started to well from his eyes.

“Answer the question.” Kiyo was clearly losing his patience, and he was losing it fast.

The tears stopped instantly, making way for a light disappointed pout. Just who  _ was _ this guy? “You were much more fun yesterday. You know, I did say I’d see you later. That’s all I’m here for! Nothing more!”

They both looked at him skeptically. “Okay, fiiiine!” he groaned. “That was a lie. I just came to return something.” Then he pulled a book out of thin air. But it wasn’t just any book… it was a black leather-bound journal with golden constellations on it.

“Where did you get that?” Kiyo half-growled, swiping to grab his stolen journal, but Kokichi moved it out of the way. “Unless… you- you  _ stole _ it!”

“Woah, I don’t appreciate baseless accusations. Since you’re being so rude, maybe I won’t return it after all.” He flashed an evil smile as he slipped the journal into a pocket that couldn’t possibly be big enough to hold it.

_ “If you do not return my journal, I promise you, I will remove your spine slowly and painfully.” _ Kiyo’s eyes darkened as his voice lowered dangerously. Shuichi felt a chill go down his back. He’s glad he’s never gotten on Kiyo’s bad side.

Kokichi laughed nervously. “Uhhh, you know, I’m pretty good at recognizing empty threats, and that was no empty threat. Damn, I sure hope you’re not a murderer!”

Kiyo did not reply, and simply glared harder. Shuichi was sure Kiyo would be a murderer if looks could kill.

“You know, I’m starting to think there’s something in here you don’t want me reading. You seem reeeeal anxious about getting it back.”

Kiyo’s glare dropped, and his expression went neutral. “I only write notes on cases and research I have done in that journal. There is nothing there that would interest you.”

Kokichi’s face contorted into an impossibly demonic smile. “Well, it’s too late for that. I’ve already read the whole thing. I know  _ everything _ .”

His eyes widened and his face paled.

“I can tell when people are lying, y’know. The minute you said there was nothing in here that would interest me, I automatically knew there  _ must _ be something good in there. Anyway, I was lying before. I would never intrude on someone’s privacy! However, now that you’ve confirmed my theory, I think I might hold onto it. You never know when you might have to blackmail someone.”

Shuichi held back a groan. He had already been curious about those journals, and now that curiosity had increased tenfold. Now it would be on his mind for weeks!

Although… this could be a way to talk to Kiyo about whatever is bothering him. Over their trip, it had become obvious to Shuichi that there was something messing with his head. He didn’t have any idea what it could be, but when you dealt with mental health troubles yourself, it wasn’t hard to pinpoint others who did as well. Even then, Kiyo was so worryingly good at suppressing his emotions that it took a long time for him to even get an inkling that something was wrong. And they lived together!

Kiyo had always helped him with his social anxiety and was always there for him when he got depressed. It was only natural to want to help him in return, but Kiyo deflected questions and denied needing help. Sometimes it really frustrated Shuichi, but he never pushed. Maybe his discomfort around the contents of his journal could be a way to introduce a discussion about-

“Hey. Hey! HEY! SAIHARA-CHAN!”

“Oh, uh, what?” He had retreated so far into his thoughts he had forgotten about the literal demon in the room!

“When you space out, you reeeaaally space out, don’t you? I’ve been trying to get your attention for five minutes!”

“F-Five minutes?! There’s no way I was spacing out for that long!”

They were interrupted by a soft laugh. “I know who you are now.”

“Huh? You do?” Kokichi said, voice condescending and drawn out. “Well, of course you do, we met yesterday at the museum. Remember? Or do you forget that quickly?”

“Kokichi. How did you know Shuichi’s surname?” Kiyo held his chin in his hand.

“Well, you said it yesterday.”

Shuichi blinked. “No, Kiyo only calls me by my given name, and we never introduced ourselves yesterday.”

Kiyo continued, “Shuichi, we took care of a client’s ‘demon’ problem the other day. Tell me, do you remember our client’s description of said demon?”

“Yeah, he said it had long horns and… a tail…” Ah. He was starting to see what was going on too.

“Hey! That describes a lot of demons. A lot of demons that aren’t necessarily  _ this _ demon,” Kokichi gestured to himself. He had a disappointed pout on his face.

“You are correct. I cannot  _ prove _ that was you, but I can think of no other way you would know Shuichi’s surname. If you have a convincing enough counterpoint, I would be willing to entertain you. Either way, I do not care. Return my journal at once.” Kiyo held out his hand.

Kokichi’s face went blank for a moment, staring as if he was sizing Kiyo up, but it quickly was covered with a bright smile. “Fine!” He procured the journal from thin air again, plopping it into Kiyo’s hand. “You know, I meant what I said earlier. You were a lot more fun yesterday.”

“Jesus Christ… what time even is it? I’ve been so distracted I haven’t looked…” Shuichi mumbled. It was still dark, so it was obviously too early to be awake, but just  _ how _ early, he was unsure.

“Mmm… It’s almost 4 AM.” Kiyo answered.

Groaning, he leaned his head back against the bed’s headboard. “It’s way too early for any of this… though I suppose we do need to leave before 8. I would be waking up earlier than I wanted either way. I’ll just sleep on the train.”

“Oh! Oh! A train?” Kokichi bounced up and down, eyes twinkling. “Where are you guys going? I wanna go on a train! Can I come? Can I?”

“Can you calm down? How are you so hyper this early, anyway?” Was he  _ really _ 23? He seemed more like a 5 year old.

“I’m such a powerful demon that I don’t require sleep.” At Kiyo’s eyeroll, he added, “Don’t be rude! It’s true!”

Kiyo simply stayed silent, pulling out a pen and writing in his newly returned journal.

“Seriously, though, where are you going?”

“Home,” Shuichi replied. “We’ve been out on a business trip, and tomorrow we’re returning from it.”

“You guys really  _ are _ paranormal investigators, then?”

“‘M not a paranormal investigator,” Kiyo mumbled, almost unintelligible.

“Yeah, kinda,” Shuichi answered, and Kiyo made a disgruntled noise. “We investigate and solve problems involving paranormal and supernatural entities. Like when we banished you from that guy’s house the other day.”

“I told you that wasn’t me! Jeez, do you guys think every demon is the same one?” His tail flicked in annoyance.

“Perhaps. But I can tell the difference between an all-powerful demon and a measly imp who likes to cause trouble.” Kiyo interjected.

Kokichi opened his mouth to refute him, but then closed it and crossed his arms, pouting. “You guys are  _ too _ good at your job. This is no fun.” He sat there silently sulking for a moment. “But… that was a lie. I like prey that fights back!”

“P-Prey!?”

“Yep. I like to play with my food. I bet you taste like cake, Saihara-chan! Do you taste like cake? Should we find out?”

“Lie,” Kiyo said. “Imps do not eat people. They just steal their food.”

Kokichi’s tail flicked in annoyance again. “Seriously. Too good at your job.”

──────────

The rest of their early morning was spent trying to keep the troublesome imp from stealing more of their things or destroying the motel room. What was supposed to be a quiet, relaxing morning before they finally went home turned into a chaotic mess.

“Can you  _ please _ stop trying to get into my suitcase?” Shuichi half-yelled as he pulled Kokichi away from his stuff for the third time that  _ hour. _

“But I’m boooooored! And looking through your shit would entertain me.” Sticking his tongue out, he attempted to wriggle out of Shuichi’s grasp.

“If you’re bored, then leave! You don’t have to be here! No one is making you stay.”

“But I wanna stay here!” he whined, loud, high pitched, and drawn out. Good thing this motel was basically deserted.

“It is not our job to entertain you,” Kiyo groaned. They both turned to look at him, who was hunched over and rubbing his temples.

“What? Of  _ course _ it’s your job to entertain me. It’s everyone’s job to entertain me. Hey, can I use the shower? I don’t think I’ve bathed in months.”

In response, Shuichi recoiled and let go of the imp who quickly dashed into the bathroom. “Just don’t break anything!” Shuichi yelled after him, then groaned and collapsed onto his bed. “What time can we leave?”

The sound of the shower starting came from the bathroom. “We’ll leave once Kokichi finishes his shower.”

“So we  _ are _ letting him come with us? But he’s so…”

“Annoying? Yes. He is annoying, but there’s something… interesting about him, don’t you think?” Kiyo looked towards the bathroom door. “Not to mention, he would most likely follow us no matter what we do. Imps crave attention, you know, and for them it can be hard to find.”

“You’re acting really calm about this.”

Kiyo shrugged. “It is not the strangest situation I’ve been in. Besides, he’s obviously harmless, and he would not be the first supernatural creature we’ve taken home with us.”

“You’re right,” he sighed. “I’d rather he annoys us, someone who knows what he is, than some poor soul that thinks he’s the latest blockbuster horror movie monster trying to kill them.”

“Horror movies,” Kiyo scoffed. “They twist the truth, and for what? Drama? Horror? The true legends have plenty of that already.”

“For real. I can’t watch horror movies anymore. I mean, after exorcising real demons and meeting real vampires, the movies are just laughable in comparison.”

The water turned off in the other room. “Ah, I suppose we should prepare to leave,” Kiyo said. “We will have to wait at the station for a while, but there will be less things for Kokichi to destroy there.”

“Whaddya mean, ‘less things for me to destroy’? I’m a little angel, I wouldn’t destroy anything!” Kokichi came out of the bathroom, hair dripping water everywhere.

“I thought you were an ‘all-powerful demon’?” Shuichi teased.

“I can be both.” Kokichi came up behind Kiyo and rubbed his sopping wet hair against his back, getting water all over him, who in turn made a disgusted noise and cringed away.

“Have you ever heard of a towel?”

“But Kiyo-chan,  _ you’re _ my towel!” He took a step towards Kiyo, who moved away from him again.

“No. I will give you the chance to dry yourself off with a real towel, and then we are going to leave.”

Kokichi pouted. “Fine. Then let’s go! I can’t wait to get out of here.”

“Do you have anything you need to bring with you? We probably won’t be coming back to this town for a long time. Possibly ever.” Shuichi put a hand over his mouth as he thought. “Are you really sure you want to come with us? This is kind of a big decision.”

“You guys are way cooler than all my other friends, and I already brought everything I need. It’s in a backpack I left outside.”

“So you were planning on coming with us from the start,” Kiyo mused. “I am not even surprised.”

Kokichi gasped in exaggerated outrage. “I am offended you think I have such ulterior motives! For your information, I bring my things with me everywhere.”

“Hmm. I don’t think that’s true,” Shuichi said.

The imp sniffled, and then started crying loudly. “Stop ganging up on me!” he wailed.

“Woah, woah, I’m sorry!” he backtracked. “We’re just teasing! That’s just how we joke around, I thought you had realized that. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

The crying stopped immediately. “I’m not sure if I believe you. Maybe if you bought me breakfast I would.”

Shuichi looked at him dumbfounded. Talking to this boy was giving him emotional whiplash. He looked to Kiyo for support, but he was silently laughing at him. Now who’s the one getting ganged up on?!

“Kehehe… As entertaining as this is, it is about time we leave.” He grabbed his suitcase and opened the motel door, gesturing for them to go ahead. “After you.”

“Hell yeah! Finally!” Kokichi practically ran out the door. Shuichi and Kiyo shared a look before following him out.

──────────

“Are we there yet?” Kokichi whined.

“You just got on the train. It isn’t even moving yet.” Shuichi sat down next to him, and Kiyo sat down across.

“Okay, fine. How much longer?” he whined again. He had put his hat and cape back on, and had somehow made his inhuman parts disappear. When Shuichi had asked earlier, he had refused to give a straight answer. Just another mystery to take up space in his brain.

“It takes three and a half hours to get there. On the bright side, since we are leaving so early, we shall arrive before lunch.” Kiyo answered.

“Three and a half hours?! I changed my mind. I’m staying here. Let me off this train!” he half screamed, causing the other riders to give them dirty looks.

“Shh, quiet! You’re gonna make people think we’re kidnapping you or something.”

Kokichi turned to look at him with a questioning face. “You aren’t?”

“Wha- You’re the one who’s forcing us to take you!”

“This is gonna be so boring, though! Three and a half hours is like, forever!”

“No,” Kiyo interjected. “Three and a half hours is three and a half hours.”

“Shut up! Time works differently in an imp’s world!”

“I have a hard time believing that,” Shuichi said.

“Hmph! Well, either way, three and a half hours is a long time, and I’m gonna get bored. You guys travel a lot, right? How do you manage these long trips without absolutely dying of boredom?”

“Well, usually we read. I have an extra mystery novel in my bag if you want to borrow it. It’s about-”

He groaned loudly, interrupting him. “Reading? BOOKS? I want entertainment, not more boredom!”

“Reading is not boring, you just have a short attention span,” Kiyo argued.

“Don’t pretend like you know me! You just met me!”

“And yet, already, you have stolen our things, broken into our living space, forced us to buy you food, and invited yourself home with us. Perhaps I should use your own argument against you.”

“No stealing! Get your own argument!”

The train lurched and started moving forward. “Oh, looks like it’s too late to jump ship. I guess you’re stuck with us for a while, Kokichi,” Shuichi said. “It’s a really good book, I’m sure you’d like it.”

“I have a much better idea. How about we play… a game! Like 20 questions!” He clapped and bounced up and down in his seat. “How about this? I ask you two a question, and then you can ask me a question! It’s a good ice breaker, yeah?”

“What ever happened to ‘animal, vegetable, mineral?’” Shuichi definitely preferred that type of 20 questions. It gave his investigative, puzzle-solving brain a workout. He hated ice breakers. It took him too long to think of questions, and he always felt awkward and second guessed his answers. Not to mention if any questions encroached on personal territory.

“That kind of 20 questions sucks. Kiyo-chan, you better play too!”

Kiyo laughed softly. “Of course I’ll play. I would love to learn more about you.”

“Aw, stop, you’re making me blush!” he waved him off. “Aaaanyway, I’m going first! Hmm… what to ask, what to ask… I guess I’ll start simple. What’s your favorite color?”

Kiyo tapped his cheek. “I suppose I don’t have a favorite color, but if I had to choose one, I would choose green.”

“Well that’s not very creative.” Kokichi laughed to himself, as if he had said something clever. “How about you, Saihara-chan?”

“Black.” He didn’t even have to think. Everything went well with black! And, it makes everything look more dramatic. You can’t go wrong with black.

“I’m not even surprised. I knew you would be emo the moment I saw you.”

“Wh-What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Shush!” Kokichi lightly slapped his cheek. “Now it’s your turn to ask a question!”

“Ahem,” Kiyo cleared his throat. “I have a question. Earlier this morning, you said you knew when people were lying. How does that work?”

“That’s an easy question!” Kokichi smiled wide. “Whenever someone lies to me, the voice of God enters my head, and they say to me, ‘That guy’s lying! You should beat ‘em up!’ I hate liars, you know, and so does the great Lord above.”

Kiyo shook his head. “What is the point of 20 questions if you are not going to answer my questions truthfully?”

“I’m not lying! And I never said I would answer your questions truthfully. I am a liar, after all. It’s in my nature.” He laughed loudly. “It’s my turn to ask again!”

“W-Wait!” Shuichi cried. “What about me? Do I not get to ask a question?”

“You and Kiyo-chan are a pair, duh! He already asked a question for your turn.” He inspected his nails, like he was bored.

“That’s not-!”

“Shut up! My turn again! Hmm… Here’s another easy one! How many siblings do you have?”

“I’m an only child,” Shuichi said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m honestly surprised my parents decided to have even one kid.”

“Wooow, don’t bring down the mood with your daddy issues, Saihara-chan.” Kokichi shook his head disapprovingly.

“I don’t have daddy issues!” Sure, his parents weren’t around all that much, and he was raised almost exclusively by his uncle, but that didn’t mean he had daddy issues!

“I don’t have time to hear about your daddy issues! Kiyo-chan’s gotta answer my question, too!”

Kiyo stared at Kokichi hard. He wasn’t glaring, exactly, just… staring at him, eyes glazed over, like he was thinking really hard. At first, Shuichi thought he was just going to ignore the question, but then he spoke, deliberately and slowly. “I currently have no siblings.”

That was... a strange way of wording it. Shuichi looked back to Kokichi, who was staring back at Kiyo with a completely straight face. He watched as they held a staring contest, and the tension in the air suddenly grew exponentially. It was suffocating, and Shuichi had no clue why. The energy radiating off the two was electrifying, and not in the good way. He sat there, wanting to do something, anything to break the silence, but he felt as though he would be intruding. On what, he had no idea, but it felt like something he should stay out of.

Kokichi, eventually, spoke up. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” he said, with little emotion in his voice.

“It meant exactly what it sounded like,” Kiyo replied in the same tone.

Kokichi narrowed his eyes. “Are you… wording things specifically to get around my lie detection ability?”

“Ah, did it work then?” Kiyo picked up his pendant and started fiddling with it.

Kokichi smiled, face contorting into a demonic grin. “You’re on, Kiyo-chan.”

Looks like Shuichi wasn’t going to get his turn in 20 questions any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, unfortunately you will not get Kiyo and Kokichi's full 20 questions game because I wasn't about to write two grown adults argue about lying for three hours straight.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi meets the other members of HPI.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun with this chapter, I've been excited to post it since I wrote the first draft a week ago, and usually I would wait at least a day more between chapters but I just couldn't do it. I had to post it. It was out of my control.
> 
> I don't really ship Gundham/Sonia, and in my mind they're more close friends, but I guess it could be seen as such if you squint.
> 
> Gundham is very fun to write.

“How many countries have you been to?”

“At least two. Now, back to how you stole my journal without me noticing. Is there a supernatural element to it?”

“Stop asking the same questions! Besides, I’ve told you multiple times now, I didn’t  _ steal _ your journal. It fell on my head from the sky!”

“Last time I asked you said you ‘found it at the end of the rainbow.’”

“Well, it fell on my head at the end of the rainbow. Same thing, right? Okay, my next question is… Where were you born?”

“Not that far from here.”

Shuichi resisted the urge to faceplant into his book. Kokichi and Kiyo had been playing this game for nearly three hours now. Kokichi would ask Kiyo something about himself, and Kiyo would gracefully deflect or dance around it. In return, Kiyo would ask him something about his abilities, and Kokichi would blatantly lie about it. Every so often they would argue passionately about whether or not something was a lie, or if the questions asked were fair. And Shuichi had listened to it for  _ three hours. _

He wanted to read his book, but every time he tried, he could only get a few paragraphs in before he tuned back into their honestly annoying conversation and found himself staring blankly at the page. As little as he really cared about their- game? Fight?- he couldn’t seem to  _ not _ listen. He wondered if anyone else on the train was captivated by it as well. It probably sounded even stranger to someone who didn’t know the full context.

_ Brring! Brring! Brring! _

The other two stopped their argument and both looked at him. Oh. His phone was ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket, checked the called ID, and answered.

“Hey, Hajime. What’s up?”

_ “Hey! I know you’re coming back today, but I just wanted to check in. Are you gonna be coming into the office today?” _

“Of course we’ll be coming in today. Why wouldn’t we?” A loud metal clang followed by a yell came from the other side. “Um… what was that?”

_ “Oh, uh-”  _ He was interrupted by another loud clang.  _ “Gundham and Sonia are doing some kind of… ritual, I think?” _

“In the middle of the office?”

_ “Well, they moved the rug and drew the circle in salt, so it’ll be easy to clean up.” _

“O-Okay? I guess we’ll check it out when we come in. We’re almost there.”

_ “Haha… about that… you’ve been away for like, almost three months. Maybe you should take it easy today, and come in tomorrow?” _ He sounded almost nervous.

“No, now I have to know what’s going on there. Besides, me and Kiyo would like to see our upcoming cases.”

_ “Yeah… upcoming cases…”  _ he mumbled.

“Also, there’s someone we gotta introduce you all to.” Realizing he was being talked about, Kokichi leaned across him and tried to snatch his phone from his hands. “Stop it!” he hissed.

_ “What does that mean? Are you bringing someone home with you? Why is it that every third case you take, you make friends with the ghost?” _

“I’m not a ghost!” Kokichi screamed into his ear and, subsequently, the phone. When Shuichi flinched from the noise, he took the opportunity to steal the phone. “Yes, hello, who’s this?”

“Kokichi, give me back the phone!” he whispered harshly.

“Not now Saihara-chan, I’m on the phone.” He waved his hand at him like a disapproving mother. “Hinata Hajime, huh? Isn’t that a boring name.”

They fought for the phone for a while, Kokichi holding onto it long enough to say some more than rude things to poor Hajime while Kiyo watched on in amusement. Shuichi looked to him in exasperation, hoping that his eyes would convey his silent message of  _ ‘please help me’. _ All Kiyo did was give him a mischievous expression, signalling that yes, he did understand his message and no, he was not going to help.

Shuichi glared at him and huffed. So much for friendship. Now more determined, he lunged across Kokichi and managed to get his phone back. “Uh, sorry about that,” he said.

_ “I assume that was who you wanted me to meet?” _

“Ah, um, yeah, that’s Kokichi.”

_ “...Right. Well, okay, if you insist on coming in, I guess we’ll see you soon.” _

“Yeah. See you.”  _ Click. _

“What did Hajime want, then?” Kiyo asked, tapping his knee slowly.

“Just wanted to check in, though I think he mainly wanted to convince us not to come into the office today. He probably thinks we’re overworking again.”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “We are adults. I think we are plenty mature enough to decide for ourselves if we are overworking or not.”

“Eeeeh, I dunno about that one, chief.” Kokichi said in a sing-song voice. “You two look like you’d overwork constantly. Saihara-chan, you look like you live exclusively off of coffee. And Kiyo-chan, I bet you’re one of those people who think that it’s not considered ‘working’ if you’re having fun doing it. Which isn’t true, by the way.”

“I’d like to disagree. It is much less mentally taxing to do activities you like than to do activities you hate.” His face was straight, but Shuichi could see the pink rising up behind his mask that showed he was embarrassed.

Kokichi burst out laughing. “Oh, man,” he said between breaths, “I know I was trying to call you out, but wasn’t expecting to call you out  _ that _ hard.” 

While he laughed, the train lurched to a stop as the overhead voice announced their arrival. “God, I can finally get off this train,” Shiuchi mumbled. He usually liked the train rides, but between being exhausted from the long trip and frustrated from being unable to properly read his book, he was more than ready to get off.

“Hmm? Did you say something, Shuichi?” Kiyo asked.

“Ah, no. Just talking to myself.” He stood up, grabbing his suitcase. “Come on, let’s go. We should get to the office. Apparently Sonia and Gundham are performing a ritual there again.”

Kiyo groaned and brought a hand to his head, rubbing his temples. “I thought I told them not to perform rituals inside the office.”

“Hajime said they were using salt so they could clean up easily, if that’s what you’re worried about?”

Kiyo grumbled something unintelligible in response.

“Am I gonna see where you work? I’m so excited! I get to see where Saihara-chan and Kiyo-chan work!” Kokichi rocketed out of his seat, swung his backpack on, and grabbed both his and Kiyo’s hands and started pulling them along with him towards the exit of the train.

“Ack! W-Wait, I haven’t gotten my suitcase yet!” Kiyo yelped as he was mercilessly dragged away. Kokichi gave an evil laugh, but stopped just long enough for him to grab his things.

──────────

“You know, when I was imagining a paranormal investigator’s office, I imagined something really cool. Not like, a dusty old dump in the basement of a stuffy office building.”

“Kokichi, you haven’t even seen it yet. It’s really not that bad…”

They were walking down the stairs of said ‘stuffy office building’ while Kokichi munched on a bagel he begged Shuichi to buy him for lunch on their walk over. Shuichi could kind of see where his assumptions were coming from, though. The basement wasn’t taken care of very well, and dirt and cobwebs lined the dull concrete walls with the bright overhead lights giving everything a sickly washed-out look.

“I dunno if I believe you. The horror movie stairwell isn’t helping your case. Ah! Unless, the horror movie stairwell is part of the appeal!” He took a large bite of his bagel. “Y’know, ‘cause you hunt ghosts and stuff.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Kiyo said. “It’s distasteful.”

They reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a similarly unkempt hallway. “Ah, well, um, the rent is cheap. That’s most of the appeal,” Shuichi explained. “We do most of our work at other locations, so our office is mainly for storage and just, um, hanging out when we’re not busy.”

“I see. So you don’t work in a dump, you just hang out in one.”

“The office itself is not a dump! We’ve fixed it up. Just- can you save the assumptions for after you see it?”

They stopped in front of a door adorning a metal sign stamped with “HOPE’S PEAK INVESTIGATIONS.” From inside, he could hear a cowbell being loudly played, along with someone yelling in… Latin? Maybe? Through the small window in the door, he could see Hajime sitting at their front desk (or small foldable table) holding his head in his hands.

“What the hell is going on in there?” Kokichi asked.

“I assume it is Sonia and Gundham’s ritual. Though whatever ritual it is, I am unfamiliar with the chant.” Kiyo said. “If it even is a real ritual at all,” he muttered under his breath after.

“Hell yeah!” Kokichi yelled, fist pumping. “My first visit, and already I get to see a creepy ritual! Let’s go in!” He didn’t wait for a response before he threw the door open and proudly marched inside.

The office was in disarray (well, more than usual). The couch usually in front of the TV was pushed into the back of the room blocking the bookshelves there, and the rug that usually lay in the middle of the floor had been rolled up and moved aside. In its place was a large pentagram. Sonia sat at one of the points, holding a cowbell, while each other point was occupied by one of Gundham’s hamsters. Gundham himself was standing in the middle of the circle, holding what appeared to be a stray cat. All of them had turned to look at them as they entered the room.

“What is this?” Kiyo said, frustration evident in his voice. “I told you, if you want to perform these types of rituals, they should not be done in the office! And  _ where _ did the cat come from?”

“Exactly, Korekiyo!” Sonia spoke up. “We had to do the ritual here, for it was an emergency! We found this poor cat hungry and cold outside the building this morning, and it was imperative we cast a protection spell on it immediately!”

“Ah ha ha!” Gundham roared. “The Dark Queen speaks the truth! This hell beast was weakened, on the brink of death due to the cold temperatures brought upon by the upcoming season of ice! We have brought it here to restore its power before we bring it to my abode.” The cat snuggled closer into his chest, and he broke character to smile and coo at it.

“Kiyo-chan, I thought you said you were paranormal investigators, not an animal shelter.” Kokichi smirked at him.

“I’m not a- We’re not paranormal investigators, and we are  _ certainly _ not an animal shelter. Gundham, was it truly necessary to perform a ritual for the cat?”

“Of course it was necessary!”

While Kiyo and Gundham argued, Hajime stood up from his desk and came around to Shuichi and Kokichi. “I assume you’d be Kokichi, then?” he asked, looking down at him with a small smile.

“And you’re Hinata Hajime? Wow, you look even more boring than I was expecting!” He grinned at him.

“And you’re about as pleasant in real life as you were on the phone,” he responded, the polite smile not leaving his face. “So, Shuichi, where did you pick this one up from?”

“Ah, he’s most likely the culprit in our last case.”

Kokichi huffed. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!” He swatted at Shuichi’s arm.

“Ah, who is this, Shuichi?” Sonia joined their group, followed by Gundham and Kiyo, the latter of which had somehow ended up holding the stray cat. “Hello, my name is Sonia Nevermind. I do not believe we have met,” she said, offering her hand for a handshake.

Kokichi gave her a high-five instead. “I’m Ouma Kokichi, the all powerful, omnipotent demon, at your service!” He bowed in mock-politeness.

“Ha! An unlikely tale. Your power is far beneath that of a demon!” Gundham said.

“Oh yeah?” Kokichi looked him up and down. “And who are you to say, edgelord?”

“Yes, exactly! Feast your eyes upon Tanaka Gundham, Supreme Overlord of Ice!” He laughed boisterously.

“Oh my God, he actually thinks that,” Kokichi muttered to him.

“Just go with it,” Shuichi whispered back.

Sonia giggled and grabbed Gundham’s arm. “Gundham, show him your power! Show him!”

“Ha ha! Gladly. Watch closely, mortals, for it is not every day I grace you with my power!” He placed his hands together in front of him, taking a deep breath. Then, as he pulled his hands apart, the air around them cooled. Shuichi heard Kokichi quietly gasp as a small ice sculpture of a cat appeared in his hand.

“Wow! You can make ice sculptures! That’s  _ very _ impressive, you’re so powerful!” he said sarcastically.

Gundham either didn’t notice he was being made fun of or chose to ignore it. “Thank you, small one!” He held the cat sculpture out to Sonia, who had taken out her phone to photograph his latest creation.

“Gundham is half ice elemental,” Kiyo explained. He leaned closer to Kokichi, supporting the cat on his shoulder, and whispered so Gundham wouldn’t overhear, “His power is weak, and beyond his impressive ice sculptures, he cannot do much. But don’t say that to him, he will ignore you at best and put a curse on you at worst.”

Kokichi smiled. “So I’m not the only magic creature you guys know!”

“Well, of course,” Kiyo furrowed his brow. “I have been working with supernatural creatures for years. I have made acquaintances with many.”

“Well, now I feel less special!” Kokichi sniffed.

Before he could go full-on crocodile tears, Hajime interrupted, “If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of creature are you? If you’re from Shuichi and Kiyo’s last case, I’d guess you’re some kind of faerie.”

“Ah. So you were aware that Mr. Tamanaha’s case was not of a demon,” Kiyo said. “I assumed as much.”

“Of course I did. It was pretty obvious if you know what to look for. I’ve tagged along on enough exorcisms to know that demons don’t play stupid pranks.”

“Stupid?!” Kokichi gasped, holding a hand to his chest. “I. Am. Offended! I’ll have you know my pranks are art! ART!” he cried.

“Right,” Hajime said, sarcastically drawn out. “So, faerie? Imp, maybe?” he squinted and leaned down to look at him. “It’s hard for me to tell because you’re hiding yourself.”

“Hey!” Kokichi poked him hard in the chest. “What’s it to you? How about you, huh? What’re you?”

Hajime laughed nervously. Shuichi knew he always felt awkward about answering that question. Not long after HPI was officially started, they had taken a case that sounded like a one-and-done ghost haunting. However, they ended up getting tied up in a case of illegal human experimentation after finding their subject, Hajime, scared and confused after running away from their lab. It’s not that Hajime was against telling people about what happened to him, but it was a bit complicated to explain.

“You see… I’m technically human?” he said, sounding unsure. “Like, me, I’m human. But I’ve got an angel’s soul inside me. I mean,  _ I’m _ not an angel, but there is one in me. In my body, I mean.”

Kokichi nodded enthusiastically. “An angel, wow! I mean, I don’t really understand anything you just said, but still!” Then, he sighed. “I guess it’s only fair I tell you the truth now. The truth is… I’m not really an all-powerful omnipotent demon.”

They all stared at him, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t Hajime prompted, “And…?”

“And, what? I told you the truth, like I said I would,” he huffed, folding his arms. “Or maybe I didn’t, and I lied again. You’ll never know.”

“Alright then. Don’t tell me. I’ll figure it out on my own, eventually.”

“Well,” Kiyo said, turning to Gundham and Sonia, “since your, ah, ritual was interrupted, may we clean it up now? I am currently unable to access the bookshelves, as you have moved the couch in front of it.”

“Of course, Korekiyo! I apologize about the couch, but there was nowhere else to put it. We shall clean it up now. Come, Gundham,” Sonia said, leading him away.

“I’m going to help them,” Kiyo said. “Shuichi, take the cat.”

“Uh, okay.” The cat was delicately transferred to his shoulder. “This cat is really well behaved for being a stray,” he observed.

“Gundham is in the room,” Kiyo replied dismissively before he went into the backroom.

“What would having Edgelord in the room do for calming stray cats?”

“Animals just really like Gundham, so they’re usually calm when he’s around. As far as we know, it’s nothing supernatural, it’s just… a thing,” he answered, absentmindedly petting the cat’s back. He and Kiyo had studied it multiple times, sure that there must be  _ something _ going on behind the scenes, but they had come up empty handed every time. “A-Anyway, while they’re off doing… that… we can talk about our next case!” It may seem a bit weird for someone to come back from a work trip only to ask for  _ more _ work, but Shuichi lived for solving mysteries. He would rest for a day or two, but as soon as he could he wanted to be back out there doing his job.

“Yeah, about that… I’ve only scheduled real simple cases until half way through January. A few ghost hauntings for you, a few seances for Kiyo… easy stuff. You guys have been working your asses off for the past two and a half months, and I think you deserve to take it easy over the holiday season.”

Or not.

“Hajime, we don’t need a break!”

“Ha!” Kokichi laughed. “I knew it! Two and a half month business trip and you’re still begging for more? You two totally  _ are _ workaholics!”

Shuichi grimaced as Hajime stifled a laugh. “Oh, uh, yeah. While I wouldn’t say it like that, you two have been working really hard, and I don’t want you running yourselves into the ground. At the end of the day, I’m in charge of scheduling, and I’m scheduling you two a break.”

He inhaled deeply. “I can’t say I’m happy about that, but I can’t really go against it, so… okay, I guess.”

Kokichi smirked. “You sound way too disappointed about getting to work less. Workaholic! Workaholic!” he sang.

“Stop making fun of me!” The cat startled at his yell, and jumped off his shoulder. “Ack, sorry!”

“How  _ dare _ you disrupt this hellcat’s peace, Seeker of Truth! She took solace in your mortal form, and you betray her trust?” Gundham chastised him from across the room as the cat clawed its way up to his shoulders. How did he manage that without flinching? “I should damn you to the deepest darkest pits of hell for this!”

“Yeah, you should be ashamed, Saihara-chan!” Kokichi hit him on the arm, and he winced.

“I-I said I was sorry!

“‘Sorry’ means nothing to the poor hellcat, Shuichi. She does not understand our language.” Sonia shook her head, looking like a disappointed mother.

“She is right… Cats use body language or something, right? Maybe you should try that instead,” Hajime suggested.

Shuichi couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Were all of his friends taking the side of a random stray over him? It was an accident! He didn’t do it on purpose! He looked with pleading eyes at Kiyo. He would have his back, for sure!

“I entrusted Shuichi with the cat, but apparently he was not prepared for the responsibility. That was my fault, Gundham, and I apologize.”

...Et tu, Kiyo?

He shook his head. “Okay, that’s enough about the cat. What’s our next case, Hajime? I wanna know so I can at least like, plan for it.”

He sighed. “That kind of defeats the purpose of giving you a break, but fine. It’s a week from today at 3:30. Sounds like an open and shut ghost case. I thought that would be a good amount of time for you to reset after your trip.”

“A whole week with no cases?” Kiyo asked. “Is our business struggling? That’s disappointing.”

“I mean, I gave Sonia and Gundham a few, but I’m serious about you two taking at least a short break.”

“Oh. I… see,” Kiyo muttered, holding a hand to his chin in thought. He looked disappointed, which Shuichi understood.

“I didn’t realize paranormal investigators were so popular!” Kokichi clapped his hands together. “I really would have thought everyone would just think you were crazy! Or scammers. Or both? I mean, I am quite literally an all-powerful demon and even  _ I  _ think you guys are insane!”

“Paranormal encounters are fairly common for human beings, whether they recognize it as paranormal or not,” Kiyo explained. “Most people do not know how to handle these encounters as ghosts and demons are portrayed as much scarier in the media than they are in real life. Well, most of the time. Demons are still quite horrifying,” he murmured.

Kokichi huffed. “You don’t find me horrifying.”

“Short one, you are no demon. Your aura is nowhere near dark nor powerful enough to be the aura of a demon.”

Sonia lightly tapped Gundham’s arm. “Gundham, it is rude to discuss others’ auras in public without their permission!”

He blushed and hid his face in his scarf. “Ah, I’m… sorry,” he muttered.

“Uh huh…” Kokichi nodded slowly with a blank face. “Right.” Then, his mood did a 180 as he grabbed onto Shuichi’s arm and started hopping up and down. “Hey! Hey! I’m hungry! When are we getting dinner, Saihara-chan?”

Was it dinner time already? He took out his phone. It was only four thirty! How was he hungry? He also winced when he saw he had five missed messages from Kaito. Feeling a little guilty he had forgotten about him in the day’s excitement, he made a mental note to answer him once they got home.

“Kokichi, it’s too early for dinner. That does make me think though… where are you going to be staying from now on? I mean, since we kinda banished you from where you were living before and you’re in a new, probably unfamiliar place…”

“That is a good point, Shuichi. That did not occur to me before,” Kiyo said, fiddling with his pendant.

“You two brought a random stranger home without even considering that?” Hajime said, exasperated. He rubbed his temples. “You know, you can be so smart, and yet so dumb at the same time.”

“H-Hey! We didn’t  _ bring _ him home, he just came with us! We didn’t even have a choice!” Shuichi sputtered.

“You’re talking about me like I’m not here again. Give me attention!” Kokichi jumped on him, and he yelped as he lost his balance and almost fell down.

“C-Could you at least warn me before you do that?”

“How about you let him stay here, in the office?” Sonia suggested. “There is a couch here, and we already have pillows and blankets!”

“Wait, why do you have pillows and blankets here?” Kokichi asked, tilting his head like a curious child.

“I decided to bring them when I kept walking in on Kiyo and Shuichi sleeping here when they worked too late,” she answered, clapping her hands together and smiling proudly. Kokichi looked up at him, and then at Kiyo, a wide and evil smile slowly slipping onto his face.

“Yeah, yeah. Workaholics. I know,” Shuichi grumbled. Kokichi burst out laughing, doubling over from the force of it. He flushed, slightly embarrassed and slightly frustrated. He and Kiyo weren’t  _ that _ bad when it came to overworking! Falling asleep in the office often did not mean they overworked, it just meant they were… dedicated.

“I will not allow Kokichi to stay overnight in the office,” Kiyo said. “I don’t want to leave him alone with my documents all night.”

“Aww, Kiyo-chan, do you not trust me?” Kokichi asked, calming down from his laughing fit. 

“No. You took my journal from me, so I no longer trust you around my papers.”

“Woah, you nicked Kiyo’s journal off him?” Hajime said. “He never lets go of that thing. How’d you manage that?”

“Managed what? This?” He pulled Kiyo’s journal out from behind his back.

Kiyo’s eyes widened as he patted his pockets. “What the-”

“And what about how I managed this?” He pulled a wallet and Shuichi’s phone out in his other hand. Shuichi put his hand in his pocket, to find it obviously empty. How did he get that without him noticing?

“My wallet!” Hajime gasped. “What- that’s amazing!”

“Fantastic!”

“Th-That is- Your power is stronger than I first assumed, short one!”

Not the reaction Shuichi would have, but okay.

“Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week!” Kokichi bowed, then handed their things back. “Now can we go back to the topic of ‘where should the all powerful demon stay tonight?’”

“Why don’t you take him home with you?” Hajime suggested.

Shuichi shared a look with Kiyo, and then they both looked at Hajime. “Us?” he asked.

“Well, yeah. You did bring him here, so he’s kinda your responsibility.”

“Yay!” Kokichi cheered, hooking arms with him and Kiyo and pulling them together into some kind of group side hug. “I get to come home with Saihara-chan and Kiyo-chan! I’m so excited!”

“We didn’t actually agree to that yet, Kokichi.” No matter what he said, though, he knew it had already been decided. Hajime and Sonia were giving them knowing looks, and Kokichi’s hold on his arm was tightening as he gazed up at him with a pout. “Okay, okay, fine. It’s not like you’ve got anywhere else to go, I guess.”

“Do I not get a say in this?” Kiyo grumbled. “It’s my apartment as well.”

“Nope!” Kokichi gleefully answered. “Now come on! I’m hungry,” he whined and tugged on their arms.

Hajime and Sonia laughed. “We can close up,” he said. “Honestly, I wasn’t fully expecting you to come in today anyway. Go start your break.”

Shuichi sighed. He didn’t really have a choice.

──────────

The apartment was exactly as he remembered it. Well, a bit dustier, but other than that, exactly the same.

“I’ll be in my room,” Kiyo stated immediately as he walked through the door. Before either of them could say anything, the door to his room was shut and Kiyo was gone.

“Damn, what’s his problem?” Kokichi threw his backpack onto the couch before flopping onto it himself. “Kiyo-chan’s a grumpy guy, huh?”

He sighed. “Not… usually. I think he’s just a little stressed out. He’s normally really sweet, a-and thoughtful, and caring.”

“Well, of course his boyfriend would think that.”

“W-We’re not-!” He frowned and shook his head. “Never mind. We lead pretty busy lives, but you’ve made the past couple of days especially hectic. Uh, not that that’s a bad thing! We’re happy you’re here!” He closed his eyes in frustration. He was so bad with words! “Between it being the end of our trip, and your tricks at the museum- yes I know that was you- he’s probably overwhelmed. And you’ve been really, uh, touchy with him, which can make him upset too.”

“Can it?” Kokichi asked, looking confused. “He didn’t seem that upset.” He said it softly, more to himself than to Shuichi. After a short pause, he looked up at him. “You two are really close, huh? Really in touch with each other, ha ha. That’s good, that’s important in a romantic relationship.” He was smiling, but Shuichi could hear the somber tone behind his taunts. Interesting, he thought. He wasn’t very good with emotions, especially other people’s emotions, so he couldn’t say for certain what Kokichi was feeling or why. Though…

_ “I don’t think I’ve ever met my parents…” _

_ “You guys are way cooler than all my other friends…” _

_ “Imps crave attention, you know, and for them it can be hard to find.” _

...he had his guesses.

“I know we kind of, well, just met, but I’m glad we did, Kokichi. I’m sure Kiyo is too,” Shuichi said in an attempt at some kind of comfort. “We know life can be hard for supernatural creatures like you, having to pick between solitude and hiding oneself, but you’re welcome as yourself at HPI.”

He stared at Shiuchi with a blank expression on his face. It left as quickly as it came, though, giving way to a disgusted expression as he fake gagged. “Ew, your sappy words make me sick. Omnipotent demons are allergic to sentimentality, you know! You know what we  _ aren’t _ allergic to, though? Food!” He hopped up and ran towards the kitchen. “What do you guys have here? Instant ramen? Pizza rolls, maybe? I haven’t had pizza rolls since I was a teen!”

“Actually… I just realized we probably don’t have much of anything here. We tried to get rid of everything in the house before we left so nothing would go bad.” He laughed nervously.

Kokichi gasped and turned around with wide eyes. “Does that mean we can order pizza instead? Can we?”

He shrugged as he laughed, authentically this time. “That seems like the best answer to our problem. We can go grocery shopping tomorrow.”

Kokichi fist pumped and cheered. “Alright! Let’s eat until we are physically unable to eat any more!”

“Uh, I’m not sure I’ll buy enough pizza for that, but you can try.”

The rest of the evening was quite enjoyable. He and Kokichi shared a pizza-  _ ‘Pepperoni, Saihara-chan! Get pepperoni!’- _ while talking about silly, meaningless stuff. Shuichi told him about his favorite case he’s taken. Kokichi told him a story about how he robbed a convenience store, which was probably false. He hoped.

Kiyo came out of his room once, only to grab a slice of pizza and immediately leave again. This wasn’t too concerning for them; they were both introverts, and a little alone time was necessary every so often to recharge. Shiuchi did wonder what he was doing in there, though- reading, maybe? He was 90% sure there was no room left in his journal to write. Maybe… he’d take Kiyo out to that bookstore he liked to get another one tomorrow. He smiled a little as he thought about it.

He set up a pillow and blanket on the couch for Kokichi. They only had two bedrooms, so there wasn’t anywhere else for him to sleep. He vaguely wondered if Kokichi really was lying about not needing sleep before. Shuichi hoped he was, otherwise he was worried about what trouble he would get into if he got bored overnight.

Before he went to sleep that night, he (thankfully) remembered Kaito’s texts.

_ Kaito: hey ur home tday rite _

_ Kaito: can i come ovr :( i wanna c my sidekick _

_ Kaito: shuichi :( _

_ Kaito: u bettr not hve gone back in2 wrk _

_ Kaito: stp ovrwrking b4 u kill urself >:( _

Shuichi laughed lightly to himself. Looks like Hajime wasn’t the only person to chastise him about his work habits today.

_ Shuichi: Okay, so I might have gone to work today. _

_ Shuichi: But you’ll be happy to know I’m being forced to take a week-long break. Feel free to come over tomorrow. I’m planning on taking Kiyo out tomorrow, though, so we can’t talk all day. _

Once again, Kaito responded immediately. Was he always on his phone?

_ Kaito: r u 2 finaly oficial thn _

_ Kaito: m proud of u _

_ Kaito: tho it took u wayyyy longr than most ppl _

He flushed, embarrassed.

_ Shuichi: We’re not dating. Why does everyone keep saying that? _

_ Kaito: mmm sure _

_ Kaito: sure ur not _

_ Kaito: well i wont get in th way of ur date dw _

_ Shuichi: I’m going to bed early. Good night. _

_ Kaito: haha _

_ Kaito: gn sidekick ;) _

Shuichi sighed in frustration, but felt himself smiling anyway. What did he do to get such supportive friends? Kiyo, Kaito, the members of HPI, maybe even Kokichi now… he felt so lucky.

It was with a contented mind that he fell into a deep sleep, finally in his own bed after his long trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a VERY POOR JOB of describing Hajime's background. I think I'm going to do a oneshot about it at some point? In short, The Kamakura Project in this AU was done by a group of scientists trying to bind an angel's soul to a human's body. They succeeded, but were 1) unable to destroy the original human soul, and 2) were unable to control the subject, who escaped. Now, Hajime and Izuru share a body simultaneously (if you've seen Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, I've been imagining it working like Greedling), but Izuru very rarely takes control, only when doing certain tasks that require his talents.
> 
> That isn't important in this storyline, but it will be important when I inevitably do the Hajime/Nagito HPI fic. (I have ideas for it, but I don't think I'd do well writing two multichapter fics at the same time so we'll finish the main Shuichi/Korekiyo story first. Which... is probably going to be really long. Just a warning.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiyo and Shuichi have a nice date. For real this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I (don't) apologize for the bit of angst. No, it's not getting resolved any time soon. You're welcome :)

“AAAAH!”

Shuichi woke with a start as his bedroom door was slammed shut. Kokichi was leaning against the door, eyes wide and chest heaving.

“Kokichi, how often are you planning on waking me up like this?” He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“Save me, Saihara-chan! Your boyfriend is literally trying to kill me!” He ran to the bed and jumped on top of him.

“Ow!” He tried to push him off, but failed. “What did you  _ do?” _

“Why are you mad at me? I’m not the one attempting murder!”

He groaned. Was every morning with Kokichi around going to be like this? “One, I highly doubt Kiyo is actually trying to kill you. Two, if he threatened you, you must have done something to provoke him.”

“Ha! So you admit he’s your boyfriend!” Kokichi snickered.

“Weren’t you just fearing for your life? Is now really the time to tease me?”

Kokichi gave him an offended look. “I always have time to tease you, Shumai.”

“Sh-Shumai?!”

“Yeah! Isn’t it cute? I think cute nicknames suit you well!”

He rubbed his temples. “ _ I _ think you’re avoiding the question, Kokichi. What did you do to Kiyo that made him so mad?”

“I’m telling you, I didn’t do anything!”

“Uh huh,” he nodded, sarcastically agreeing. “I’ll just ask Kiyo himself, then. Get off me.”

“Nooo, don’t do it!” he yelled as he melodramatically rolled off the bed and thudded onto the floor.

He stood up and made his way to the door. “You know, that just makes me want to ask him more.” Apparently, though Shuichi had some of the nicest and most supportive friends, he also had some of the most dramatic friends. He didn’t believe that Kiyo was trying to kill Kokichi, but he  _ did _ believe Kiyo had at least threatened him. Possibly in an incredibly detailed and concerning way.

...He really is a kind and sweet guy! He swears! Just a little... quirky.

He stepped out of his bedroom. “Hey, Kiyo? Where are you?”

“Kitchen,” he called back. Shuichi walked in to see him calmly making tea. He didn’t look like he was on a murderous rampage, like Kokichi was leading him to believe. “You’re up early. Would you like some coffee?”

“Yeah, if you’re offering. Thanks.” He leaned onto the counter. “Kokichi woke me up by running into my room crying that you were trying to kill him.” He laughed lightheartedly. “Know anything about that?”

“I also woke up with Kokichi in my room, but unlike you, I believe he had been there for a while. It startled me, and, well…” he trailed off and suddenly got hyper focused on the coffee maker.

“Kiyo, what did you do?”

“I, well, may have chased him out with a pocket knife,” he mumbled.

“Kiyo! You can’t do that!” Shuichi gasped. “No wonder Kokichi thought you were gonna kill him!”

He sighed deeply, but he was facing away from Shuichi so he couldn’t tell what his expression was. “I wouldn’t kill him. I’m no killer. I’m… not a killer.” His shoulders tensed as he mumbled to himself.

“What? Of course you’re not a killer.” Shuichi furrowed his brow. That was a strange reaction. It almost sounded like Kiyo was reassuring himself. He pushed off the counter and walked to stand next to him, but stood far enough away as to not touch him. “Are you… doing okay?”

“I am fine, Shuichi. I’m sorry if I worried you. I’ll apologize to Kokichi for scaring him.” He waved him off but avoided looking at him.

He frowned. “Let me rephrase. Kiyo, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, Shuichi.” He turned his head to hide his face from Shuichi, which just made him even more sure there was something bothering him.

“No offense, but that’s bullshit.” He curled his hand into a fist, feeling angry all of a sudden. “Why don’t you ever let me help you? You’re always supporting me when I’m anxious, o-or when I’m depressed, why can’t I help you in return?”

“Because I don’t  _ need _ help! There’s nothing wrong with me!”

“I never said there was anything wrong with you! There’s nothing wrong with needing help!” He was yelling now, losing control of himself.

“Yes, there is!” Kiyo yelled back, gripping the counter until his knuckles turned white.

“Oh, so are you saying there’s something wrong with me? Because I’ve needed your help?”

Kiyo finally turned to look at him with wide eyes. “No, no, that’s not what I mean.”

“So it’s only wrong if  _ you _ need help, then?”

“I- no- but-” His hands went from gripping the counter to tugging at his hair. He looked deeply distressed, eyes going anywhere but Shuichi’s face as he curled in on himself, as if he was trying to be as small as possible. It reminded him a little of his panic attack at the museum, and he felt his heart clench knowing he was the one pushing him to that point. He had gone too far.

“Hey, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled. It’s just… it’s so frustrating that you’ve helped me so much and I feel like I can’t do anything in return.”

Kiyo didn’t say anything, he just stared back with unfocused eyes.

“You… you know you can tell me anything, right? No matter what.”

Kiyo looked down and shook his head quickly. “No, Shuichi. I can’t.”

He blinked slowly. “You… can’t?” Not ‘shouldn’t’. Not ‘don’t want to’. Can’t. As in ‘unable to’. “Oh my God, Kiyo, are you being blackmailed?!”

“Wh- No! No, I’m not being blackmailed, what ever gave you that idea?” He had stopped pulling at his hair, and instead of looking distressed he looked more confused.

“W-well, you said you couldn’t tell me, which usually means someone is keeping you quiet… so I guess I assumed…” Looks like his detective side was showing.

Kiyo sighed, and then lightly laughed, but it sounded hollow. “I’m not being blackmailed. Really, I am alright, Shuichi.” He put his hand on his back reassuringly. “I’m truly sorry if I worried you, but I’m fine. Really.”

He still thought that was bullshit, but he knew that continuing to push it would just make both of them angry and frustrated, so he backed off for now. To be honest, Kiyo insisting he was fine even  _ after _ displaying behavior that made him seem decidedly  _ not _ fine made Shuichi all the more concerned. This would not be the last time he brought it up but for now, well, at least he wasn’t being blackmailed.

He hummed disappointedly, but changed the subject. “I was thinking yesterday about how you ran out of pages in your journal, so you’ll need a new one soon. I was wondering if maybe, you know, since we’re on a break and all, uh,” he stuttered, “if you’d maybe, um, want to go out with me today to that bookstore you like. To get a new one. Uh, but Kaito’s coming over today too, so we’ll have to go around that. Not that I’m valuing Kaito over you, or anything, but we haven’t seen each other in two months and-”

He was interrupted by Kiyo patting his back and holding a coffee cup out to him. “I understand.”

“A ha ha,” he laughed nervously, “thanks.” He had a bad habit of rambling when he got anxious, and Kiyo was certainly making him anxious. What would be so bad that he couldn’t tell him? He would get it out of him eventually, but for now all he could do is worry.

“ Ewwww, can you two lovebirds get a room?” Kokichi yelled. They both jumped at the sudden noise. They turned around to see him entering the kitchen, his imp features unhidden. “Ah, did I spook you? Sorry not sorry! It’s my job as a demon to be super scary. Hey, is that coffee? Gimme!” He stole the mug from Shuichi’s hands and took a sip, but grimaced and gagged after it. “Where’s the sugar? The milk? This is disgusting! How do you drink this shit?” He took the mug with him as he searched around their cabinets.

“I would have given you a cup. You didn’t have to steal his,” Kiyo said as he poured Shuichi another cup of coffee. “We don’t have any milk since it would have gone bad over our trip, but the sugar is in the top cabinet to your left.”

Kokichi stretched up on his toes as he reached for the cabinet, a concentrated expression on his face. He cheered as he succeeded in grabbing the sugar jar (although almost dropping it on its way down) and then proceeded to dump an ungodly amount of it into his cup. He was disgusted. How could you ruin something as sacred as black coffee like that?

“Anyway,” Kiyo said. “I would love to go to the bookstore with you today. Perhaps we could get groceries while we are out as well.”

Kokichi groaned. “Are you two going out without me? I’m gonna be so bored being here all alone!” He sighed, and a demonic smile crossed his face. “Well, I guess I can always go through your stuff while you’re away.”

“I would suggest you refrain from doing that, unless you want me to go through with my threat from earlier,” Kiyo said with a dark voice.

Kokichi broke out in tears and rushed to hide behind Shuichi. “No! Saihara-chan, save me! Don’t let him kill me!”

He rubbed his temples. “He’s not going to kill you. Just don’t go through our stuff. Watch TV, or read a book, or something. Can’t you entertain yourself?”

“Uh…” he pursed his lips in thought. “Nope! I can’t! You guys have to entertain me!”

“Why can’t you do what you did before you met us?”

“Uh, you mean psychologically torture the people I live with until they move out? I can do that if you want!” He smiled evilly.

“Actually, no, never mind.”

They were interrupted by a firm knock at the door. Is that Kaito? He usually doesn’t wake up until eleven or later, it’s too early for him to be visiting!

He was proved wrong when another firm knock followed by a  _ “Open up, sidekick!” _

“Uh, coming!” He speedwalked to the door, followed closely by Kokichi.

“‘Sidekick’? Saihara-chan, are you sleeping around?”

Pausing with his hand on the doorknob, he turned around with a disturbed face. “Ew, no. It’s just a thing my friend calls me.” He swung open the door to reveal Kaito… and Maki. That explained the early visit.

“Hey, sidekick!” Kaito rushed forward and pulled him into a side hug, ruffling his hair. “I’ve missed you so much, bro! Augh, it’s so good to see you again!” He gave a squeeze before letting go. “So what have you- AH!”

He jumped back, almost tripping over himself, before cowering and hiding behind Maki. “D-d-d-demon!” he cried, pointing at Kokichi.

Oh, right. Kaito hated occult stuff, and standing in front of him was, although not a demon, something that looked a lot like a demon. “No, don’t worry, he’s not a-”

“That’s right, I’m a demon! A super, ultra-powerful, demonic demon! You better watch out before I eat your soul!” Kokichi stepped towards them, pretending to scratch at him like a cat.

Maki leaned into his face, glaring hard. “Do you want to die?”

He screamed and ran to hide behind Shuichi. “Shumai, now two people are trying to kill me! I don’t wanna die!” he cried.

He stopped himself from facepalming. “How many times do I have to tell you this? No one is trying to kill you. Kokichi, this is Momota Kaito and Harukawa Maki. They’re my friends. Kaito and Maki, this is Ouma Kokichi. He… followed us home after our trip.”

“Did you exorcise a demon and then bring it home with you? Are you nuts?” Kaito yelled.

“He’s not a demon.” Kiyo poked his head around the corner. “Good morning Kaito, Maki. Would you like some coffee?”

“Yes, that sounds great.” Maki left the terrified Kaito behind to follow Kiyo to the kitchen. Kokichi grinned and stalked towards him, but Shuichi grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.

“Kokichi, no terrorizing Kaito.”

He pouted. “You’re no fun.”

“S-s-so, sidekick,” Kaito stuttered and clapped his hand on his shoulder, “what have you been up to?”

He laughed. “We’ve texted almost every day, you know what I’ve been up to.”

“That’s different than hearing it from you directly. Come on, tell me a story!”

“Kiyo’s a much better storyteller than me, you know…”

“Then you two can tell me one together, yeah?”

They made their way to the kitchen, where Kiyo and Maki were holding polite but awkward small talk. “Yo, Kiyo!” Kaito winked and pointed at him. “Got any coffee left?”

“I’m sorry, but no. Maki has the last of it. I can make more, if you’d like?”

He clicked his tongue and waved his hand dismissively. “Nah, don’t worry about it. We won’t be staying long anyway, right Shuichi?” He elbowed him playfully (and yet still painfully), winking at him in an exaggerated fashion.

“Why did we come all the way over here then?” Maki muttered.

“I was planning on coming over yesterday, but I have some crazy ass friends who go into work when they’re supposed to be on break. So instead, I came over today, but Shuichi said they were going on a lunch date so I wanted to get outta their hair early!”

“Shuichi, I wasn’t aware we were going on a lunch date.” Kiyo said, eyes warm.

“Neither was I,” Shuichi gritted his teeth. “I never even said it was a lunch date. Just that we were going out. You assumed the ‘lunch’ and ‘date’ parts on your own.”

“Did I?” Kaito asked, not looking sorry in the slightest. “Well, it’s a lunch date now. I know a nice place you can go to!”

“When did you decide it was your job to plan our da-  _ outing, _ Kaito?” He appreciated his friend’s- support? Enthusiasm, perhaps?- but he could plan his own date just fine. It really was in Kaito’s nature to meddle with his relationships if he thought he was helping. Shuichi had heard from Maki that his date plans were usually terrible, though, so he probably wouldn’t be following his advice this time. Sorry, Kaito.

“It’s a hero’s duty to help his sidekicks when possible!” He posed heroically.

Kokichi giggled and rocked on his feet. “You’ve got weird friends, Saihara-chan.”

“Sh-Shut up, demon! Th-The power of Christ compels you…?” He made a cross with his fingers.

Kiyo laughed softly. “That is not how demon exorcisms work.”

“Whatever!” Kaito yelled, putting on a false bravado. “That’s irrelevant anyway. You two are going on a nice date, whether you like it or not!”

“Looks like we have no choice, Shuichi,” Kiyo said, and Shuichi could hear the smile in his voice. “A lunch date sounds enjoyable either way.”

A small smile crossed Shuichi’s face. “Yeah, it does.” On the inside, his mind was screaming.  _ ‘He thinks it’s a date? He thinks it’s a date! Oh my God, he thinks it’s a date!’ _ Shuichi hadn’t initially meant for it to be a date, but he was far from against the idea. And now Kiyo was calling it a date, which means that he wanted to go on a date with him too. That’s a good thing, right? Were they boyfriends now? No, he’s getting ahead of himself. But… maybe  _ after _ the date, they could be boyfriends. Maybe-

“Hey, Saihara-chan.” Someone snapped in front of his face. “You’ve been staring off into space with a stupid grin on your face for a few minutes now. Did you hear a single thing anyone has said?”

“Uh…” He nervously laughed, feeling embarrassed.

Kaito patted his back again. “I see what’s up. Come on, Harumaki, let’s get going.” He winked exaggeratedly at Shuichi as they left the kitchen, which only made his embarrassment worse.

Kokichi grabbed Shuichi and Kiyo’s hands and pulled them to the front door, pushing them out of the apartment. “Bye bye, guys! Have a fun date! I promise I won’t go through your shit while you’re gone! You can trust me!” The door was slammed in their faces.

“...Do you think we can trust him?” Shuichi asked.

“No. But it’s a bit late for that now, isn’t it? Shall we go?”

“Ah ha. Yeah.”

──────────

The bookstore was a small, local place, owned by an elderly couple and their son. With the amount of bookshelves shoved into the small shop, it could easily make someone feel claustrophobic, but Kiyo had expressed in the past that only made it more cozy for him. Combined with the warm lighting and smell of books, Shuichi understood why. Though he could do without the small spaces.

Kiyo gave a small wave to the man behind the front counter before turning into the sea of bookshelves. He followed close behind, afraid that he would somehow lose him in the small but cluttered store.

“So… where are the journals you like?” he asked.

“They are at the back, but I thought we might just look for a while first.” Kiyo turned around to look at him and added, “Uh, unless you’d rather leave faster?”

“No, no! I’d like to see what true crime books they have. Sorry, I didn’t mean to like, rush you or anything.” Stupid, stupid, stupid! Nice way to make him feel uncomfortable, Shuichi!

Luckily, Kiyo simply laughed, unperturbed. “I pray we find them then. The organization system here is…” he looked towards the front desk and leaned down to Shuichi, whispering, “a bit erratic.”

He knew Kiyo was whispering because he didn’t want to offend the store owners, but the close proximity of their faces made him blush and nervously giggle. “Ah ha ha, I uh, even if we don’t find any books I want, I’m still happy I came here with you.” He scratched his cheek- a nervous tick.

“We’ll do our best to find one. Besides, it’s not a true bookstore visit if you don’t have to search for an hour to find what you want.” They shared a laugh before starting their hunt.

Shuichi lost track of time as they spent way longer than necessary searching for even one true crime book. Kiyo was right; the organization system, if you could even call it that, was a complete mess. He was finding WWII memoirs shelved next to medieval fantasy novels, and historical fiction shelved with actual history books. At some point, their search became less about finding true crime books and more about finding the most absurd misplacements.

“Kiyo, they put the Iliad in the science fiction section,” he said, holding up the mentioned book.

“That one doesn’t make any sense,” Kiyo grumbled. “There’s nothing sci-fi about the Iliad. It’s a fictionalized retelling of true events.”

“Tell them that,” Shuichi whispered, and couldn’t hold back a light giggle.

“Speaking of the science fiction section,” Kiyo came up behind him, “is that one of the books you were looking for?” He pointed at a book that looked out of place among the over the top sci-fi book covers.

“Woah, yeah!” He quickly picked the book up off the shelf. “I’m surprised. I was beginning to think there weren’t any here. But why science fiction?”

“Shuichi. I think we have thoroughly proven today that genre means nothing in this store.”

“Ha ha, that’s true. Well, I’ve found my book. How about we get your journal now? We’ve already wasted-” he took out his phone and looked at the time- “A-An hour and a half?! We’ve spent an hour and a half making fun of their shelving system?”

Kiyo gave a small shrug. “‘Time flies when you’re having fun?’ We were looking for books as well.”

“I guess. At least it’s an acceptable time to eat lunch now.”

He followed Kiyo to the back of the bookstore where a small shelf was filled with fancy, colorful journals. They came in a variety of sizes, all with gorgeous artwork and patterns lining them. He could see the constellation one Kiyo had before, but there were at least a dozen other designs. His eyes landed on a black pocket sized journal with a silver symbol on the front. It looked slightly familiar- he was sure he’d seen it before- but he had no clue what it was or what it meant.

“Hmm… which one should I get…” Kiyo mumbled, hand on his chin.

“Uh… what does this mean?” Shuichi pointed at the silver symbol.

Kiyo hummed as he looked to where he was pointing. “Oh. I believe that is a Triskelion, a Celtic symbol. I am not well versed in Celtic symbolism, and since this one is so ancient it has many different meanings throughout time. One possible meaning is that each spiral represents one of sea, land, and sky; another is the cyclical nature of life, if one believes in rebirth or reincarnation. It is a pretty design with a nice meaning so many people wear jewelry or get tattoos of it. Or put it on journal covers. I do not know how many of them actually understand the meaning behind it, however.”

“It is a pretty design. And the meanings are nice. I see why so many people use it.”

Kiyo tilted his head slightly as he looked at him. “You seem to like that one a lot.”

He looked away with a light blush, shaking his head. “It’s pretty, but I’m not really into journaling. I’m afraid I’d never use it.”

Kiyo stared for a moment longer, before picking up the journal and turning it around in his hands. “I’ll use it, then.” He turned around and headed towards the front counter.

“A-Ah!” Shuichi sped up to walk next to him. “You don’t have to get that one just because I like it!”

“I didn’t have a preference. You made picking one out easier.”

“I-If you’re sure…”

Kiyo turned to shoot (what he assumed was) a warm smile at him. “I think it’s more special when someone else picks it out anyway.”

“Y-You think so?”

“Of course. Now, whenever I write in it, I’ll think of you.”

Shuichi felt his face go warm as his brain briefly malfunctioned. Kiyo? Thinking about him? Thinking his journal is special since Shuichi picked it out? Kiyo likes thinking about him? He  _ did _ agree to going on a somewhat-dateish-outing with him. And Shuichi liked thinking about Kiyo, so it would probably make sense if Kiyo liked thinking about him too. Unless liking thinking about him made Shuichi creepy, which is also a large possibility. Did Kiyo think he was creepy? No, probably not, otherwise he wouldn’t want to live with him. Unless-

He was broken out of his internal panic by someone pulling the book he had been clutching out of his hands. Kiyo placed the book on the front counter next to his journal for the cashier to ring up.

“Kiyo, you don’t have to pay for mine!”

“I don’t mind. We can go faster if I pay for both anyway.” Before he could argue more, Kiyo had already paid and his book had been returned to his hands.

“You have to at least let me pay for lunch then,” Shuichi added as they left the tiny bookstore.

“That’s unnecessary,” he replied, and Shuichi could hear the smile in his voice.

“It was unnecessary for you to pay for my book, so let me pay you back! By paying for lunch, I mean...” Shuichi sheepishly smiled up at him.

“Well, if you insist…” Kiyo dismissively waved his hand, but Shuichi could feel the playful smirk on his face. “Do you have any preference where we go?”

“No, not really. You?”

“I never have a preference.”

They stood side by side, arms crossed, silent as they looked at the crowded street. Shuichi was indecisive in these matters, and Kiyo was usually indifferent. Together they could volley ‘no, where do  _ you _ want to go’ for hours if given the time.

“We could see where Kaito wanted us to go,” Shuichi said after a moment. Having a third party pick for them normally fixed it.

“Better than sitting here talking about it. It’ll be exciting to go to a new place as well.”

Shuichi took out his phone to send a quick text to Kaito.

_ Shuichi: We’re having trouble thinking of a place to eat lunch. Where were you going to recommend? _

“How long do you think it will take for him to respond?” Kiyo asked.

“A minute, tops.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “Does he usually respond that quickly?”

“I know, right? I’m starting to think he never puts down his phone.” Sure enough, it didn’t take more than a few seconds for his phone to ring with a new message.

_ Kaito: i knew u wuld need me ;) ;) _

He sent an address that Shuichi was unfamiliar with. Definitely a place they hadn’t been to, then.

_ Shuichi: Thank you, Kaito.  _

_ Kaito: np ;) hope ur havin a gud date ;) ;) _

He held back a groan. How many winking faces did he need? He was making it seem like they were doing something way worse than going to a bookstore and getting lunch.

“I got an address. I’ve never been there so I doubt you have either.”

Kiyo clapped his hands together lightly. “New experiences are always good. We’ll go there.”

──────────

“I regret asking for Kaito’s recommendation.”

The place Kaito had sent them to was not a cafe, like they had expected, but a bar. Somehow, despite it being the middle of the day, it still managed to be crowded and rowdy. It was far from the kind of place Kiyo and Shuichi liked to visit. They had sat as far away from the other patrons as possible, but the bar was small, so there wasn’t much room to spare.

Kiyo was drumming his fingers on the table, looking about as uncomfortable and agitated as Shuichi felt. At a loud yell from a man across the room, he flinched. The noise was clearly bothering him.

“We can leave if you want,” he assured him.

“No, there’s no reason to leave. It is a bit too late for that, anyway. We have already ordered food.” He stopped drumming his fingers to pick at the bandages on his hand.

“I can only hope the food is good then. Kaito said it was, but I’m starting to second guess his judgement…”

Kiyo shrugged. “I’m sure it will be enjoyable.”

Before Shuichi could respond, someone slammed their hands down hard on their table, making both of them flinch. “Hey! Creepshow!” the person yelled.

He looked up at them. A strawberry blonde woman was standing there, leaning on the table and staring intently at Kiyo who was staring disinterestedly back.

“Are you talking to me?” he asked, voice flat as he pointed to himself.

“You bet I am!” she yelled, smiling widely to herself. She slid into the seat next to Kiyo, and turned towards him whilst using her arms to push her chest up. She looked up at Kiyo and batted her eyelashes. His eyes flitted down for less than a second before returning to staring at here with a slightly annoyed face.

The woman must have noticed his disinterest, because she visibly deflated. “Th-That’s it? No blush, b-barely a glance, n-nothing at all?”

“What, exactly, is it you want from me?”

“I thought that was obvious. Sex, of course!” She said it so loud Shuichi felt his face get hot in embarrassment as he looked around to see if anyone was looking at them, but luckily the bar was so loud no one was listening to them at all.

“I’m sorry, but I am not interested. Would you please leave? I was trying to enjoy some time with my… friend.” He stumbled over what to call Shuichi, which added onto the internal panic he had nearly forgotten about.

“Look Creepshow, you aren’t my type either. I don’t usually go for creepy gender confused bastards, but I’m desperate.”

“Are you some kind of sex addict?” Kiyo responded bluntly, ignoring her underhanded insult.

“N-No, it’s nothin’ like that…” She blushed and twirled her hair around her finger. “L-Listen, it’s none of your b-business! Couldn’t you just close your eyes and pretend I’m your definitely-less-attractive girlfriend?”

“Again, I apologize, but I’m gay. I have no interest in having sex with a woman.”

The woman leaned back with a disgusted look on her face. Before Shuichi had the chance to tell her off, she sniffed the air and said, “You don’t smell gay.”

“Smell?” Shuichi exclaimed. He’d heard ‘you don’t look gay’. He’d even heard ‘you don’t sound gay’. But smell? How does one smell gay? There is no stereotypical ‘gay’ smell.

“Shaddup, virgin!” the woman slammed a hand on the table. “I’m not interested in you! I don’t fuck wit’ virgins.”

“V-Virgin?! What makes you think that?” It’s not that he was offended; he’d outgrown those kinds of insults ages ago. He was more just shocked at how it came out of nowhere.

She laughed loud and proud. “You don’t even need my genius nose and golden brain to figure that one out! It’s obvious just by glancin’ at you.”

He frowned, resting his head in his hand. “I still don’t get what smelling and noses have to do with sex…” he muttered.

Kiyo hummed, narrowing his eyes and staring at the woman. She shrank into herself, red with embarrassment as she twirled her hair. “Wh-What are ya lookin’ at me like that for…”

“I apologize if this seems rude, but… You wouldn’t happen to be a succubus, would you?”

“Huh? What makes you think that?”

“I know little on succubi, but the way you speak makes me believe you may be one.” He shook his head. “If I’m wrong, I apologize, but if I’m right… well, I’d be interested in learning about you.”

“Interested enough to sleep with me?” She leaned towards him again.

“No,” he replied, moving away. “How desperate for sustenance are you that you’re hunting in the middle of the day? I was under the assumption prime hunting time was the evening.”

“Ew, don’t call it ‘hunting time’, that’s weird.” She made a disgusted face. “I’ve been puttin’ off fuckin’ ‘cause I’ve been busy with my boyfriend.”

“Ah, so was I correct? You are indeed a succubus?” He looked pleased with himself.

“Yeah. Surprised you even considered that. I mean, most people don’t think we exist.”

He shrugged. “Supernatural things are a part of my job.”

Before they could continue, something occurred to Shuichi. “Um… sorry to interrupt, but you said you have a boyfriend? Why can’t you just… ah… with him?”

“Pff. Just say ‘fuck’, ya fuckin’ virgin! And yeah, of course we fuck! But we learned a long time ago I can’t get any energy outta it. See, he’s an automaton. Artificial body, man-made soul. I guess I need a real human body to feed.” She said it like it was obvious, like it was common knowledge Kiyo and Shuichi should have known beforehand.

“Hm… interesting, very interesting…” Kiyo pulled the new journal out of his pocket, turned to the first page and started jotting things down.

“So, y’said supernatural shit’s part of your job? That’s unusual.” Their lunch was brought out, and the woman stole food off Kiyo’s plate. He didn’t seem to notice or care, simply continuing to write in his journal.

“We work at Hope’s Peak Investigations,” Shuichi answered her. “We solve problems involving the paranormal and supernatural. You’re far from the first supernatural entity we’ve encountered.”

“Definitely one of the better ones,” Kiyo muttered. “You’re not trying to kill us.”

“So you’re like, paranormal investigators? That’s fuckin’ awesome!”

“Something like that,” Shuichi chuckled. “We’ve never encountered a succubus before. At least not knowingly.”

“Or an automaton, for that matter,” Kiyo interjected. “I’d be very interested in meeting your boyfriend.”

“I’m sure he’d like to meet you, too. You seem like his kinda people.”

Kiyo snapped his journal shut with one hand, and pulled a card out of his pocket. “Here’s my business card. It has my number and our office’s address. We’d love it if you stopped by one day. I’m very curious about you and your partner’s existence.” He stopped for a moment as something occurred to him. “Not within the next week, however. We’re, ah, currently banned from the office. Do not ask.”

“Sure thing, Creepshow!” She snatched the card from his hand with a toothy smile.

“Ah, um, I don’t think I caught your name… I’m Saihara Shuichi,” he said.

“You’re lookin’ at the gorgeous girl genius Iruma Miu! Nice ta make your acquaintance!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to make it very clear that Korekiyo isn't a serial killer in this fic because that plot twist was dumb and my boy didn't deserve it. His self conscious nature about killing has to do with something else.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi, Kiyo, and Kokichi have an afternoon together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took longer than all the others AND it's the shortest I've written so far so I apologize :( It's mainly a filler chapter just to show that a week is passing because I'm stupid and didn't write any important events to happen between them coming home and them taking on their next case. Chapter updates might slow down because I've been busier than usual meaning less time to write, but in the mean time, enjoy three idiots doing stupid shit together.
> 
> Thank you all so so much for the kind comments on the last chapter, it gives me life, I love hearing your thoughts <3
> 
> (P.S. I don't know how Scrabble works either, and that's probably obvious.)

_ “So, how’d your date go, sidekick? Like the place I picked out?” _

He sighed. “The date went fine until we started taking your suggestions.”

_ “Aww, don’t say that! The food there’s really good!” _

“The food was fine, but me and Kiyo generally avoid loud, crowded bars.”

_ “It’s good to get out of your comfort zone every once in a while.” _

“A succubus tried to make the moves on him while we were there.”

_ “Oh.”  _ Kaito chuckled.  _ “Looks like even when you’re on break, work finds you, eh?” _

He laughed softly. “Looks like it.”

He heard a thud followed by loud chaotic laughter from the other room. He’d retreated to his bedroom momentarily to take Kaito’s phone call, and he’d only been gone ten minutes tops and already Kokichi and Kiyo were getting up to trouble. He was starting to learn the hard way those two could be a force to be reckoned with when left to their own devices.

_ “When can we properly hang out, then? I know you’ve got plenty of time since you’re on break all week.” _

“We’ll start our regular gym visits again, right? You, me, and Maki.”

He laughed heartily.  _ “Of course! I thought that was obvious. Thursday after work like usual?” _

“That’s good with me.” Another loud laugh came from the other room, this time followed by an unintelligible yell. “You can pick me up any time this Thursday and we’ll hang out. I’ll probably be home all day, since I’m off work and all.”

_ “Sounds good!”  _ He could practically see him giving a thumbs up.  _ “We’ll hang out soon then, yeah?” _

“Yeah. See you soon.”

_ “See ya, sidekick!” Click. _

He set his phone face down on his desk and wrote  _ ‘Meet with Kaito’ _ on his wall calendar. It was unlikely he would actually forget, but he wrote it down just in case. Also to make sure he didn’t accidentally schedule anything else on the same day.

_ “Bullshit!” _ he heard Kokichi scream from the other room. What on Earth were they arguing about out there? He pocketed his phone and left for the main room.

“Of course it’s a real word. It’s German.”

“You aren’t supposed to use words in other languages in Scrabble.”

He looked down to see Kiyo and Kokichi sitting on the floor (why were they sitting on the floor? There’s a perfectly good table right next to them!), a Scrabble board between them. There were a variety of nonsense words on the board, some that looked plausible and others that looked like random strings of letters.

“I don’t believe you are supposed to use words that do not exist in Scrabble either.”

“Hey, I’ve given you definitions for all my words! What is ‘Trapen wits’ even supposed to mean?”

“ _ Treppenwitz, _ literally meaning ‘staircase joke’, is a German compound word that is defined as ‘a remark or joke you think of too late, after the perfect time to use it’.”

“Oh. That actually happens to me a lot.” Kokichi put a finger to his pursed lips. “I still think it’s unfair to use so many stupid German compound words.”

“And it’s not unfair to use nonsense like Q-K-J-H-Z? That’s not a word in any language, it’s a random string of high scoring letters.”

“Hey Shuichi!” Kokichi waved at him, and Kiyo turned to look at him as well. “Whaddya you think? Should Kiyo-chan be allowed to play stupid unfair German words that make no sense and have no applicable use?”

“I think you’re both playing the game wrong.” Would they fail miserably at the rules of every game they played? How was it even  _ possible _ to slaughter the rules of Scrabble so badly that QKJHZ is even considered acceptable?

“Shumai, you’re supposed to take my side!” he pouted.

“He’s not going to take your side because you are obviously cheating.” Kiyo stated, starting to put another German looking word on the board.

“You’re the one letting him cheat, Kiyo. It’s partially your fault.”

“Blasphemous,” he said, and Shuichi could hear the smile in his voice. “I’m sure you know this one, Kokichi.  _ Schadenfreude. _ The pleasure you get from someone else’s misfortune.”

“Ha! Words to live by! Or, word, I guess.” He laughed with a wide grin.

Shuichi took a closer look at their board. It didn’t even look like a Scrabble game anymore, to be honest. “Which one of you is winning?”

Kiyo put a finger up and started to speak, but stopped himself. “Actually, I do not know. Kokichi, have you been keeping track of the score?”

“Well, duh, I’m winning!” Kokichi smirked. “But… that’s a lie. I haven’t been keeping score either. Maybe we’re tied?”

“Perhaps. Shall we call it a draw?” He held his hand out for a handshake.

“Okay!” Kokichi took his hand, giving it a hard and enthusiastic shake. “Let’s play Monopoly next! I saw you had it.”

Oh, no. Shuichi was not going to let them play Monopoly after seeing the mess that came out of Scrabble. If they managed to mess up Scrabble that bad, he didn’t want to even guess at what Monopoly would end up as. Probably screaming and tears. And possibly setting the apartment on fire. “I think you two have had enough board games for today.”

“Pff. What are you, our mom?”

It was seriously starting to feel like it.

Shuichi sighed and plopped onto the floor with them. “If you play Monopoly, I’m going to enforce the rules.”

Kokichi groaned. “Monopoly’s boring if you follow the rules!”

“I’d argue Monopoly is boring no matter what you do,” Kiyo tapped his leg. “Did you know it was originally created to simulate the evils of capitalism and monopolies? It was never meant to be a fun family board game.”

“Okay, fine. No Monopoly,” Kokichi huffed. “I’m never going to be able to play it the same way again. You’ve ruined it, Kiyo-chan.”

“Oh. I apologize.”

Shuichi took a deep breath. “You know, I just realized we never got groceries. Our house is practically devoid of food.”

Kokichi clapped enthusiastically. “We can get pizza again!”

“We can’t eat pizza every night. That’s unhealthy.”

“But moooooom!” he whined and pouted. Then he did an emotional 180 and smiled wide. “We can all go shopping together!”

“A wonderful idea,” Kiyo stated plainly. “The more hands the better.”

Kokichi grabbed Kiyo’s hands, leaping up and pulling the taller man up with him. “Let’s go now, then!”

“N-Now?” Kiyo stuttered as he stumbled, surprised at being pulled up so suddenly. Shuichi couldn’t hold back a laugh at it, and Kiyo shot him a flustered glare, softened by his red face.

“Why not now? We’re not doing anything. Unless you’d rather play a card game?” Kokichi smirked.

“No, no, let’s go now,” Shuichi said. He did not want to play a card game with them if he knew they weren’t going to follow the rules. That sounded like some form of medieval torture.

“Yay! Family shopping trip!” Kokichi cheered and dashed towards the door. Shuichi looked towards Kiyo, who simply shrugged and followed him.

Well. Can’t argue with that.

──────────

“Kokichi, do you really need two bags of flour? Isn’t that a bit excessive?” Shuichi leaned on the shopping cart as the imp dropped the bags into the cart.

“I like baking,” Kokichi simply replied, grabbing some brown sugar and a bag of chocolate chips.

“You do?” Shuichi asked, slightly surprised. “You don’t strike me as the kind of guy who would bake a lot. When did you even have time to bake?”

“I always have time to bake!” he laughed. “I haven’t had the opportunity in a while though. I’ve been too busy. Now that I’ve got free rein of a kitchen, I’m baking to my heart’s content!”

“What were you so busy doing that you couldn’t bake every once in a while?”

“Trying to take over the world!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. “Duh!”

Shuichi hummed, but didn’t otherwise respond. Thinking about it now, it was obvious Kokichi wouldn’t have been able to bake if he wanted to. He was living in someone else’s house, and didn’t have proper access to a kitchen.

That led him to another question, though; when was the last time Kokichi did have access to a kitchen? And how? Had he always been living out of unknowing people’s houses or did he used to have a permanent home?  _ If _ he used to have a permanent home, what happened?

Someone lightly placed their hand on his shoulder. “I can see the gears turning,” Kiyo said from behind him. “What are you thinking so hard about?”

“I-It’s nothing, really.” Or at least nothing he wanted to talk about in the middle of a grocery store.

Kiyo laughed. “Alright. You may want to leave the baking aisle before Kokichi puts a fifth bag of chocolate chips in the cart, though.”

Confused, he looked down into the cart. Sure enough, there were four large bags of chocolate chips there. “Kokichi, I don’t think you need more than one of these.”

“Nonsense!”

He laughed, grabbing the three extra bags and putting them back on the shelf. “Do you have all the baking stuff you need now?”

“Weeeell, I’m about three bags short on chocolate chips, but I  _ guess _ I can go without ‘em,” Kokichi rolled his eyes, but there was a small smile on his face. He flipped his hands in the air and walked ahead of them.

Shuichi went to follow him and Kiyo walked beside, prim and proper as usual. He was always impressed by that. The way he never broke posture. It didn’t seem natural to Shuichi, like the way he did things was practiced. He wondered what Kiyo was like as a child, if he was always so particular or if something had changed since then. Now that he thought about it, Kiyo never talked about his childhood. All of his stories were from the past five years at most. Was there a reason behind that? Maybe he’d ask.

“You’re thinking again,” Kiyo said. “Now I’m curious. What is occupying your thoughts so deeply?”

“A few different things, really. My mind wanders a lot,” Shuichi awkwardly laughed. “I was just thinking about what you might have been like as a kid.”

“Oh? That’s interesting. I’m not sure if I should be flattered or concerned.”

“It wasn’t anything bad, I assure you.”

“Flattered then, I suppose.”

Kokichi returned to them and dropped a ridiculous amount of grape soda in the cart. At his and Kiyo’s disapproving stares, he exclaimed loudly, “What?”

“...Never mind,” Shuichi said. It wasn’t worth the effort.

──────────

Kokichi burst through the door the minute they returned to the apartment, practically running into the kitchen.

“What’s the rush?” he asked, entering the kitchen to see the imp rummaging through their cupboards with vigor.

He turned around to look at him with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face, slamming his hands down on the counter hard. “We. Are going. To make cookies. Right now. Where are your mixing bowls?”

He looked up and tapped his chin. “Do we have mixing bowls?” he said, mostly to himself. “Hey Kiyo,” he called out, “do you know if we have any mixing bowls?”

Kiyo poked his head in. “If we do, I am not aware of them.”

“Seriously?” He put his hands on his hips and frowned at them. “Don’t you ever like, cook? At all?”

“Well, yeah, we cook,” Shuichi said, “but never anything too complicated. We’re always busy with work.”

The imp tutted. “You disappoint me.” He gave a long sigh, then continued, “I  _ guess _ I can teach you some of what I know. If you beg.” He lifted his head and pointed at the ground in front of him.

“I’m not going to beg. I didn’t even ask for cooking lessons.” Shuichi shook his head.

Kokichi immaturely stuck his tongue out at him. “Fine! I’ll bake cookies on my own.”

Shuichi jumped as Kiyo brushed past him, properly entering the kitchen. He pulled a large bowl from a higher cupboard. “Will this work?” he asked, handing it to Kokichi.

He narrowed his eyes at it for a moment, before snatching it from Kiyo’s hands, inspecting it closely. “I guess so. Now take off those nasty bandages and wash your hands.” He pushed Kiyo towards the sink. To Shuichi’s surprise, he complied, taking off his coat and unraveling the bandages tightly wrapped around his arms.

“Are you- You’re going to help bake cookies?” Shuichi asked in slight disbelief. It wasn’t that Kiyo wasn’t allowed to bake cookies or anything, but Shuichi struggled to even imagine him doing something so… domestic. It felt like everything Kiyo did highly serious, always relating to his work or his studies.

“Are you familiar with the fable ‘The Little Red Hen’?” Kiyo said as he started washing his now bare hands.

“I think you’re just using that as an excuse to help bake cookies.”

Kiyo simply hummed in response, which all but confirmed Shuichi’s suspicion. Then, a hand wrapped around his wrist as Kokichi pulled him forward.

“No, Kiyo’s right. If you don’t help, you don’t get any!” he said brightly. He grabbed Shuichi’s hands and shoved them under the water, holding them there until he relented and washed them. Looks like he didn’t have much of a choice either way.

That’s how he got roped into spending the rest of the day making an assortment of baked goods while being ordered around by an overenthusiastic imp. He hadn’t really baked anything since he was a kid, baking cookies with his uncle. It wasn’t how he was expecting to spend his time, but it was far from unwelcome. In fact, it was a nice way to learn about Kokichi and his habits.

The first thing he noted was how naturally Kokichi fell into his self proclaimed leadership position. Underneath all the taunts and lies, he was good at giving easy to understand orders and was able to explain things in a simple yet effective way. Though he was clearly having a fun time baking with them, he was taking his role as leader very seriously. In fact, the leadership role might be part of the fun.

The second thing was how often he touched them. Kokichi seemed to take every opportunity to touch them; whether that was tapping their arms to get their attention, or moving their hands to show them how to do something. He noticed the imp was hesitant at times to touch Kiyo, most likely because of what Shuichi told him last night, but even then he was still very hands on with him. It was as if it was second nature for him, like he touched people without even realizing it half the time.

“Shuichi!” Someone slapped his back. “You gotta stop spacing out! You’re overworking the dough,” Kokichi berated him, but there was a little smile on his face.

“Ah, um, sorry.” He pulled his hands away from the- actually, what does this dough make? Some kind of bread product? He didn’t know anything about baking, so he had no idea. 

Kokichi shook his head. “You’re lucky I stopped you before you completely ruined it. I probably would have had to kill you if you did.”

“You would have killed me over bread dough?”

He gasped. “You imbecile!  _ That _ is for biscuits.”

The oven beeped, signaling that whatever was in there (Shuichi hadn’t been paying attention) was done. Kiyo opened it and, using a dish towel, took out the tray of what he could now see were sugar cookies.

“Are these done, Kokichi?” he asked, looking sideways at them.

“They look perfect!” He clapped and smiled wide. “You’re a lot better at this than Shuichi.”

He might have been offended by that if it wasn’t so true.

“I do have one concern. What are we going to do with all of these baked goods?” Kiyo gestured to the honestly ridiculous amount of sweets collecting on the counter. “It is impossible for us to eat them all ourselves. I think we may have gotten a bit carried away.”

He had a point. They had gotten swept up in Kokichi’s childlike excitement to bake and hadn’t thought ahead to just what was going to happen to everything they made.

“I’m meeting with Kaito and Maki the day after tomorrow. We could give them some,” Shuichi suggested.

“A wonderful idea. Perhaps we could bring some to the office tomorrow as well.”

Kokichi huffed. “I thought you were banned from the office right now.”

Kiyo crossed his arms. “I don’t remember them ever banning me from simply entering the office. I am sure they would appreciate it if we brought some of this in.”

“And you’re not gonna try to work if we go there?” Kokichi narrowed his eyes at him.

Kiyo stared in silence for a moment. Shuichi assumed Kokichi had been right on the money. Eventually he sighed. “I’m guessing you would come as well. I would not be able to do any work without you stopping me first.”

Kokichi hummed and dropped his arms. “Fine. Only because I need the world to know how good I am at baking. And I’ll be keeping a close eye one you.” He threw a bit of flour at the taller man for emphasis. Shuichi stifled a laugh at Kiyo’s stunned expression.

“...Was that necessary?” he asked, attempting to brush it off his clothes. All it seemed to do was spread it out more.

“Why, of course it was necessary! Y’know, in some cultures being sprinkled with flour is good luck!”

“I… don’t think that’s true.”

He pouted. “Maybe not in any cultures  _ you _ know. You should educate yourself, Kiyo-chan.” He shook his head disappointedly.

This launched yet another argument, this time about foreign cultures and countries that may or may not have existed at one point in time. Shuichi tuned it out pretty soon after it started. Honestly, would everything Kiyo and Kokichi did together turn into a ridiculous and pointless argument? At least it was all in good fun, or at least appeared to be. Shuichi didn’t want to know what an actual argument would look like between them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang distributes baked goods and plays video games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's another shorter filler chapter before Kiyo and Shuichi go back to work. It's coming, I promise. In the meantime, here are a few cute interactions. (I've also been struggling to write because I have Ace Attorney brainrot but shhh that's not important)
> 
> I also drew not one but two scenes to compensate for two short chapters in a row. Reminder, it's also been posted on my tumblr lazoptera in case you see it there. (Kiyo looks so different in each picture I am ASHAMED)

The next day, the three of them packed up about half of their baked goods and headed out towards the office to dump them off on their coworkers. (That is, after Shuichi pulled the other two away from a confusing looking card game. When he asked them what they were playing, neither of them could even name what game it was. What a mess.)

“Do you think they’ll be surprised to see us?” Shuichi asked as they walked down the familiar dusty stairway. Kokichi was marching proudly ahead of them, his plate of cookies held high as if it was an offering to the gods. He supposed it kind of was, if you considered Gundham’s self-proclamation of godhood to be true.

“Perhaps,” Kiyo replied. “I believe there is a good chance Hajime has predicted us coming in on our break, but I doubt he’ll be expecting sweets.”

He hummed. It was completely in character for them to come in while on break, and with Hajime’s knack for predictions, he probably was expecting to show up at least once this week. Hopefully he wouldn’t get mad at them for showing up. Kiyo was right when he said that Hajime never explicitly said the words “you can’t come into the office,” but it was heavily implied.

They reached the office, and Shuichi could see Hajime talking to Sonia through the small window on the door. Their heads shot up when Kokichi threw open the door and loudly announced his presence with a “Hey, bitches!”

“Kokichi?” Hajime said, looking slightly surprised. His face dropped into vague disappointment when he looked past him. “And Kiyo and Shuichi.”

“Wow, you remembered my name!” Kokichi smiled.

“I remember everything.” He sighed and focused his attention on the two investigators. “I can’t say I’m surprised but… didn’t I tell you not to come in? And what have you brought with you?”

“We, uh, we brought food?” Shuichi said sheepishly, setting his plate of cookies on the table Hajime was sitting at.

“And you never explicitly said we could not visit the office. Just that we could not do any work.” Kiyo put another plate, this one with biscuits, next to Shuichi’s. “And we have not broken that rule.”

Hajime frowned deeper. “You aren’t gonna try and work while I’m not looking, are you?”

Shuichi laughed nervously. “We’re not that bad, are we?” At Hajime’s disappointed stare, he added, “On second thought, don’t answer that.”

“Don’t worry Mr. Angel!” Kokichi wrapped his arms around Shuichi in an awkward side hug. “I’m keeping an eye on them for you.” He winked, and Shuichi held back a groan.

Hajime’s eye twitched a little bit. “It’s Hajime. Not ‘Mr. Angel’.”

Kokichi pouted, and leaned more onto Shuichi. “That’s boring. You should play more into the whole angel aspect.”

“I told you before, I’m not an angel. I’m just a normal, average person. The angel is someone else.” Hajime unwrapped the plate of cookies and grabbed one from the pile. He took a bite and his face lit up a bit. “This is decent. Did you make this, Shuichi? I’m surprised.”

He opened his mouth to argue that it wasn’t fair to assume he would be bad at baking simply because he didn’t do so often, but Kokichi interrupted him. “Okay, first off, Shuichi sucks at baking. I made those cookies. And second off, my cookies are beyond just ‘decent’, they are divine.”

Shuichi pouted. “I’m not that bad at baking…”

“Yes, you are,” Kokichi stated.

“No matter what, these are delicious!” Sonia was holding the plate Kokichi had brought, munching on a cookie. “I am very proud of you.” She smiled sweetly at him.

“I don’t need your praise to know my baking is good. ” Kokichi stopped hanging onto Shuichi to cross his arms and glare at them. Sonia simply laughed.

Before Kokichi had the opportunity to whine about that, Kiyo said, “Hajime, where is Gundham? I am surprised he is not here.”

“Oh, he’s out doing a seance right now. It was a small one so he went alone.”

Shuichi could practically feel the disappointment radiating off him. “Ah… I see,” he muttered.

Hajime laughed lightly. “Don’t look so down, Kiyo. There will be more seances.”

“...I suppose.” He still looked a bit sad.

“We’ll be back to work soon enough,” Shuichi assured him.

Kokichi half jumped on Kiyo, wrapping his arms around waist and hugging him tightly. “I didn’t let you come here just so you could be mopey!” He smiled up at him, bright and earnest.

“Uh…” Kiyo looked taken aback by the sudden contact, leaning slightly back with a shocked and flustered expression on his face. It was really cute; if he didn’t think Kiyo would kill him for it, Shuichi would have taken a picture. Maybe he wouldn’t mind if Shuichi stole his own hug later…

“You know what?” Kokichi continued when Kiyo didn’t respond, “I’m kinda bored now. Can we go now?” He rested his chin on Kiyo’s chest and pouted at him.

“I, uh, suppose we have nothing keeping us here. Would you please let go?”

Kokichi frowned slightly but did let him go. The frown left as soon as it came, however, and was replaced with a bright smile. “Let’s go home, then! Was nice seeing you angel boy, Sonia! Hope you like the cookies!”

“I will enjoy them greatly!” Sonia exclaimed, while Hajime grumbled about his nickname. “Thank you for bringing them in.”

Kokichi winked and shot her finger guns and backed out of the office, leaving the rest of them behind.

Hajime clicked his fingers on the table. “He’s a character, that’s for sure.”

“Tell me about it,” Shuichi muttered. “You don’t live with him.”

──────────

“Will you be meeting with Kaito and Maki today like usual?”

They were all sitting in the living room, Kiyo and Shuichi reading books while Kokichi watched something stupid on TV. Shuichi looked up at the sudden question.

“Uh, yeah, probably pretty soon. Why?”

“No reason,” Kiyo said, not looking up from his book. “I was just curious as to when you would restart your regular outings.”

“Oh! Can I come?” Kokichi bounced up and down in his seat.

“No,” Shuichi frowned. “It’s kind of a thing just the three of us do. Sorry.”

“Uhg, dumb.” He sighed, but his expression turned back to a smile quickly. “That just means I get more time with Kiyo-chan!”

He hadn’t really considered the fact that he would be leaving the two of them alone for an extended period of time. They were both adults, but Shuichi couldn’t help but worry based on what he had seen so far. “You two aren’t going to set the apartment on fire while I’m gone right? And I’m not going to come home to find one of you dead?”

“Not likely. I will just be reading my book,” he stated plainly.

“Kiyo-chan,” Kokichi whined, drawing out each syllable. “That’s boring! I want you to play with me.”

“I am not your caretaker. I do not have to always be the one to entertain you. Learn to entertain yourself.”

“No!” He humphed, crossing his arms. “I’m getting a bit sick of board games. I think today we should play a video game instead. Do you have any video games?”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever played a video game, and I’m not sure I want to.” Kiyo finally looked up from his book, slight annoyance showing in his eyes.

Kokichi stared at him with a blank expression. “How… How is that possible? How did you grow up in this day and age and have never played a video game?”

He shrugged. “I simply never had the opportunity when I was younger, and by the time I did, I had no interest in them.”

“Well, I know what we’re doing today!” Kokichi exclaimed, pointing a finger into the air triumphantly. 

“No.” He looked back down to his book.

“You don’t have a choice, Kiyo-chan. You’ve got a laptop, right? Gimme your computer!”

“And if I don’t?” Kiyo side eyed him.

“I’m getting your computer either way. Either you surrender it willingly or I steal it.”

He stared at the imp for a moment, before sighing heavily. “Do what you will.”

Kokichi fist pumped before jumping up and darting into Kiyo’s room, saying something along the lines of “I wonder if I remember my old Minecraft password”. Shuichi shot a small smile at Kiyo, who grumbled and looked back down at his book. “You’ve got a soft spot for him,” he said.

“Don’t act as though you’re any different.”

There was a loud knock at their door. “That’s probably Kaito,” Shuichi said as he stood up to open the door.

The second the door was opened, Shuichi was pulled into a tight hug. “Good to see you again, Shuichi!” Kaito exclaimed and smiled at him.

“You just saw him a couple days ago,” Maki muttered.

“That was different.” He let go of Shuichi and walked past him, inviting himself into their apartment. “That was just a quick visit, while today we’re properly hangin’ out. Yo, Kiyo!” he called, waving to the tall man still curled up with his book.

“Good afternoon.”

“Did you banish the demon?” Kaito asked, looking around the room and noticing his absence.

“Ha! You wish!” They all jumped and turned around to see Kokichi having somehow miraculously appeared behind them, holding Kiyo’s laptop and a computer mouse in his arms. Kaito yelped and hid behind Maki, just like he had the other day.

“How did you get there?” Shuichi asked.

“How interesting.” He looked back to see Kiyo closing his book and standing up to join them. “It should have been impossible for you to get there without being seen first. How did you do it?”

“Hmm… I’ll tell you if you play video games with me!” He smiled and shoved the laptop towards him to accentuate his point.

“No, no, don’t do it, Kiyo!” Kaito trembled. “Never make deals with demons. He’ll try to eat your soul!”

“Kaito, please.” Kiyo sighed. “That is _not_ how demons work.”

“Does that mean you’ll play with me?”

“Kokichi, you are not giving me a choice. Besides, I am very skeptical as to if you would actually tell me the truth if I agreed.”

He snapped his fingers. “You are far too sharp, my friend.”

Maki cleared her throat. “Can we go now?”

“Wait, wait! Not yet!” Kokichi cried. He ran into the kitchen and came back with a bag full of their baked goods from the other day.

“Oh, right. I had forgotten about that,” Shuichi muttered.

Kokichi held the bag out to Maki, looking uncharacteristically awkward all of a sudden.

“What is this?” she asked, grabbing the bag and peeking inside.

“Kokichi wanted to bake the other day, but we made way more than we could eat. I suggested we should give some to you,” Shuichi explained.

“I don’t know if we should trust it, Maki,” Kaito whispered, but it was loud enough that everyone could hear it anyway. “What if the demon poisoned it?”

“Fuck you, asshole!” Kokichi yelled, making him jump. “I wouldn’t ruin perfectly good cookies like that! If you’re just gonna shit talk me, maybe I shouldn’t give you anything.” He looked legitimately angry, hands on his hips and tail flicking back and forth with an agitated expression on his face.

“Don’t talk to him like that,” Maki said, glaring down at the imp.

“Wh-Why are you getting mad at me?” he whimpered, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Shuichi couldn’t be sure if they were real or not. “He’s the one who’s being an asshole to me for no reason!”

“Do you want to die?”

“Okay,” Shuichi said, standing between them. “That’s enough of that. Nothing’s been poisoned- me and Kiyo helped make them, so I’m sure of that. Um, I think it’s about time we go.”

Kokichi’s tears disappeared immediately and he smiled up at him. “Yep! You guys go now, and me and Kiyo are gonna have a super duper fun time while you’re gone. Come on, Kiyo.” He grabbed his hand and started dragging him away.

“Ah- Have a good time, Shuichi,” he stuttered as he stumbled away.

The minute he, Kaito, and Maki had left the apartment and started heading out, he turned to them and said, “What the hell, guys?”

Kaito and Maki look at each other, and then back to him. “What?” Kaito asked.

“You know ‘what’. You two were being really rude to Kokichi for no reason.”

“‘No reason’?! He’s a _demon_ , Shuichi. He’s dangerous!”

He groaned. “I told you, he’s not a demon. He’s completely harmless.”

“Shuichi,” Maki said, “You’re getting desensitized. You’ve only known him a few days and he’s already very familiar with you, and living with you. What if he _is_ dangerous?”

“I’m not ‘desensitized’. I think I’ve worked with supernatural creatures long enough to recognize who is and isn’t dangerous.”

“We’re just worried for you, sidekick.” Kaito put a hand reassuringly on his back.

“I… appreciate the concern. I really do. But I don’t need you to protect me. I mean, remember when I first introduced you to Kiyo and you told me he was too creepy to be around?”

Kaito rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll admit I was wrong about him. Kiyo’s chill. B-But he’s also human! So it’s different.”

“That’s wrong on so many levels.”

Kaito sighed. “I’ll trust your judgement. But the minute he tries something funny, I’m gonna… get Maki to beat him up.”

“No,” she replied. Shuichi laughed. Kaito and Maki were very supportive friends, but they were also very protective of him, which could sometimes be a problem. He knew it was all out of love, but that didn’t make it any less annoying.

“Speaking of Kiyo,” Kaito started, “how is he?”

“He’s…” Shuichi trailed off. What exactly should he say here? He was pretty sure Kiyo wasn’t fine, but he also couldn’t get him to talk about it. Truthfully, Shuichi had no idea how Kiyo was doing, and that frustrated him.

A hand waved in front of his face. “Yo, Shuichi. You’re spacing out.”

“Did something happen?” Maki asked.

“Ah, um, I don’t really know. Kiyo’s… I don’t really know what’s up with him.”

“Are you fighting?”

“No! No- well, we did argue the other day, but we’re still on good terms. Very good terms. Um-” he stumbled over his words- “I just think there’s something… wrong? I guess? But he won’t talk to me about it, which upsets me, because I really want to be able to help him, but I can’t if he won’t let me in.”

Maki simply hummed in response, looking straight ahead, but her brow was furrowed in thought.

“Do you want me to talk to him?” Kaito hit his fist into his palm. “I’m great at moral support!”

“No offense, Kaito, but I think you’d make it worse. When I tried to talk to him about it the other day, I think I almost sent him into a panic attack, and he’s more comfortable with me than he is with anyone else.” He put a hand to his mouth. “Which is just more proof that something is wrong. Not to mention he would be pissed at me if he knew I said anything about it to you.”

Kaito’s face fell and he clapped Shuichi on the shoulder. “If I can do anything to help, let me know.”

“Of course,” he smiled. “Now I’ve told you plenty about me and what I’ve been up to. Why don’t you tell me about what space training you’ve done while I was gone?”

──────────

By the time Shuichi got home, he was exhausted. Kaito’s workout routines were always vigorous, but since he’d been on his trip and exercising regularly, it had been even more tiring. All he wanted to do was take a shower and then sleep for three years.

But then he entered their apartment to see Kiyo and Kokichi, sitting on their usual floor spot with their backs against the couch, talking and laughing together about something on his laptop, and his plan for a shower was put back a bit. Kokichi was wearing a sweatshirt that was way too big for him; he hoped that wasn’t one of his, he had cut holes out of it for his wings and tail. He was pointing enthusiastically at something on the screen and talking fast, leaning slightly on Kiyo, who was looking pretty cute in a green turtleneck. He felt his heart warm a bit as he smiled at the frankly adorable scene before him. They didn’t seem to notice him as he returned, instead continuing to talk about the game.

“You’re not gonna water your plants?”

“I will in the afternoon. I want to talk to Harvey before his work starts.”

“Again with Harvey, seriously? There’s more to this game than seducing men you know.”

“I-I’m not seducing him! I’m courting him in marriage. It’s very different. And I’m not just doing that, I’m helping the forest spirits as well.”

“I don’t even get why you picked Harvey to thirst over. Sebastian’s much cooler.”

“Harvey is exceedingly kind and intelligent, and is a well respected doctor. Sebastian is living in his parent’s basement.”

“Oooh, better watch what you say. You’re gonna make Shuichi jealous.”

“I don’t think I’m gonna get jealous of a fictional doctor.” Shuichi smiled knowingly as the other two jumped and looked up at him in surprise. “Besides, we’re not dating. If Kiyo wants to ‘court’ this Harvey guy, he’s free to.”

“...I’m gonna buy some more seeds while I’m here,” Kiyo muttered, intentionally ignoring him.

“So you found a game he likes?”

“Yeah! At least I assume he does.” Kokichi poked him. “Do you like it?”

“It is… enjoyable. You can cultivate relationships with the characters.”

Of course Kiyo would like that aspect best. He wondered if Kokichi knew that, if he thought about that when picking games for him. He’s glad he managed to find one Kiyo liked.

“Can I sit and watch?” Shuichi asked.

“Ew, no. I can smell you from here.” Kokichi wrinkled his nose. “Maybe if you shower first.”

“Yeah, okay, fair,” he laughed. “I’ll be right back.”

He took a quick shower, surprised at the fact that he didn’t hear any loud yelling or laughing from the other two. Maybe they were calmer when they couldn’t ruin the rules of the games they played. He finished up and threw on an old T-shirt and yoga pants before coming back and joining them on the floor. “What are you doing?”

Kokichi pointed to a menu on the top of the screen. “Kiyo’s gotta plant these seeds so he can give the crops to the forest spirits.”

“I have to talk to Harvey first.” Kiyo muttered.

“Seriously?”

“No, no, I wanna meet him,” Shuichi giggled.

“Scoping out the competition, are you?” Kokichi smirked at him. “I thought you said you wouldn’t get jealous.”

“N-No, it’s nothing like that!” He waved his hands frantically. “Am I not allowed to simply be interested?”

“No, you’re not.”

He frowned slightly, but knew by now not to take any of his jabs too seriously. He looked up at Kiyo’s face. He was completely focused on the game.

Shuichi pursed his lips, thinking for a moment, before subtly scooting closer to him, leaning slightly into his arm. If Kiyo noticed (which he probably did), he didn’t acknowledge it. Before he could let himself overthink it, he focused his attention back on the game.

He could certainly get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kiyo really does let kokichi do whatever he wants huh
> 
> Unfortunately, it's not Kokichi if he isn't antagonistic, and it's not Kaito and Maki if they aren't wary of him because of it. Don't worry, they don't hate Kokichi, they're just overprotective of their friend. I realized while writing this chapter that I didn't think too far into Maki's character when planning this AU and now I'm regretting it. Is she human? Secretly supernatural? Is she still an assassin? Maybe she's a demon hunter? Who knows? Not me. There's definitely something to play with there and I'm sad I didn't think of it beforehand.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi and Kiyo are finally allowed to work again. Kokichi tags along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter took a lot longer than usual! As a plus, it's longer than most.

“Ah, I’m so excited to get back to work!” Shuichi took a deep breath of the morning air and stretched his arms out as they walked down the sidewalk towards the office. Their mandatory break was finally over, and they were finally able to work again.

“I get you guys are excited, but did you  _ have _ to go so early?” Kokichi grumbled, finishing his statement with a well timed yawn.

“‘The early bird gets the worm’, as they say.” Kiyo pointed a finger up in front of him like he was about to start a lecture. “You have no right to complain about how early it is, anyway. You are always awake before I am, and I wake quite early.”

“I don’t sleep,” Kokichi rolled his eyes. “I just don’t understand why we have to go to work so early.”

“You don’t have to,” Shuichi reminded him. “Only we work there. You could have stayed home if you wanted to.”

“Maybe I want to work there,” he whined. “And I wanna see how real paranormal investigators do things!”

Kiyo heaved a deep sigh, but otherwise didn’t say anything. Perhaps he had given up on correcting Kokichi. That, and he had likely realized Kokichi was doing it on purpose at this point.

“What are you gonna be doing, anyway? I hope it’s not gonna be super boring, or that you’re gonna be sitting around in that dusty old room all day.”

“No, Hajime told me before that he scheduled us a case today,” Shuichi recalled. “Said it sounded like a ghost haunting. If that’s true, it should be fairly easy.”

“And if it’s not?”

Kiyo laughed darkly. “Then, we have a bit more fun. Ghosts are so common, harmless, and so easy to ward off; a pinch of salt, a few candles, and the ghost is gone. At least if it is something else, there is a mystery to solve.”

“Oh, so you want super dangerous cases?” Kokichi laughed. “If I had known that before, I would have made sure to make  _ my _ case as interesting and dangerous as possible!”

“N-No, that’s alright. Your case was already, um, interesting enough.” That, and Shuichi had already been in enough paranormal near-death experiences to last him a lifetime. He couldn’t say the same about Kiyo- the man seemed to actively seek out dangerous situations for the sake of ‘learning’ and had probably been in more near-death encounters than just the ones Shuichi knew about.

Kiyo held open the front door of the office building for them. “I wouldn’t have cared if you murdered that particular client,” he muttered.

“K-Kiyo!”

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” Kokichi said slyly.

“Please don’t murder anyone, it’s illegal,” Shuichi sighed. “I don’t think my heart can handle anyone getting arrested.”

“I would only get arrested if you ratted me out,” Kokichi grumbled. “You wouldn’t rat me out, would you?”

“I used to be a detective. I’d feel… I dunno, traitorous if I didn’t report you.”

Kokichi gasped and looked up at him with stars in his eyes. “You used to be a detective?! You didn’t tell me that! That’s so cool!”

“Well, it didn’t come up,” he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away with a small smile on his face. He was secretly preening from the adoration, but was trying not to let it show. “It was actually through my detective job that I met Kiyo.”

“Oooh, tell me the story! Come on, tell me!”

“Perhaps sometime later,” Kiyo interjected. “We have work to do.” They reached their office and Kiyo once again held the door open for them, which was already unlocked. The only person in the office was Hajime, who had likely assumed they would arrive early and had come in to meet him.

“Can’t you talk  _ while _ you work? I want to hear the story now.” He pouted up at Kiyo with wide, pleading eyes. Kiyo looked unamused.

“What story would that be?” Hajime asked, looking up from the papers in front of him with interest.

“Me and Kiyo’s first case together. Before we made HPI.”

“The one with the vampire?”

“There’s a VAMPIRE involved?” Kokichi yelled. “Now you’ve gotta tell me!”

“We have work to do, Kokichi…” Kiyo muttered.

“I think you’ve got time for a story,” Hajime said. “The appointment isn’t for a few hours, and you won’t need time to look over it beforehand.”

Kiyo stared at him for a moment, thinking, before sighing in resignation. “Alright. I shall tell you the story. With Shuichi’s help, of course.”

They all sat down, Kokichi practically jumping in his chair in excitement as they gave their undivided attention to the storyteller. He cleared his throat before beginning.

“Before I met Shuichi, I traveled the country. My reputation for dealing with the supernatural was by word of mouth only. One day, I got a call for my biggest case yet- a serial murderer of whom the detective on the case believed could be vampiric. I was intrigued- I had never dealt with a serial killer or a vampire before and I am always looking for new experiences…”

As usual, Kiyo became more animated as he lost himself in the story. He told it so well that even though Shuichi had lived through it with him, he still found himself feeling suspense and hanging off of every word. Every so often he would get interrupted by a snarky comment from Kokichi ( _ how did you lose at poker that fast?) _ , or he would ask Shuichi for clarification on something he couldn’t remember. Not that he needed any clarification; he told things exactly as Shuichi remembered them, from the details of the murders to the exact descriptions of the casino.

“...I looked around the dim, lamplit streets. We were alone. I pulled the vampire down a darkened alleyway as we passed, using her shock to pin her to the ground before she could attack. To ensure she would be weak enough to stay incapacitated, I used the hawthorn and cross I had brought with me. And then…” he trailed off, and furrowed his brow. “And then… I can’t seem to remember exactly what happened next.”

“That’s not too surprising,” Shuichi said. “You probably forgot due to the trauma.”

“The… trauma?” He started to absentmindedly fiddle with his pendant. “I suppose that’s… possible.”

Kokichi slammed his hand down on his leg. “Finish the story, Saihara-chan! I gotta know what happened!”

“Oh, um, yeah, of course. We, uh, interrogated her, but then-”

_ She accused Kiyo of having something wrong with him and it shook him so hard he lost control of the situation. _

“-she overpowered him and attacked him,” he said instead. Something told him Kiyo wouldn’t want them to know about that part. “And she bit him.”

“You were bit by a vampire?” Kokichi exclaimed, eyes sparkling in awe. “How are you alive?” He gasped. “Are you a vampire now, too?”

“Vampires must intend to turn their targets. She bit me with the intent to kill,” Kiyo explained. “And she very well might have.”

Shuichi grimaced. He didn’t like thinking about that fact. “I stabbed her in the shoulder with the, uh, the knife Kiyo gave me-”

“Oooh, badass,” Kokichi sarcastically interrupted.

“-and she passed out. I guess that’s like, a vampire thing? The iron made her pass out?”

Kiyo hummed a confirmation.

“Yeah, so she passes out, and I call emergency services. The cops for the vampire, and an ambulance because- because Kiyo’s bleeding out on the ground…”

_ And then I turn around and he’s crawled over to her and is gearing up to kill her with a crazed look in his eyes and I don’t even know if he’s completely conscious anymore- _

Better leave that part out, too. Kiyo probably doesn’t even remember doing that. He feels a bit sick to his stomach, recalling all these details. Yes, he had been in more dangerous situations since then, but none as shocking as his first. And combining the troubling details he’s remembering with the concerning behavior Kiyo had been displaying more recently just raised even more red flags in Shuichi’s head.

“Wow, Shuichi. You suck at storytelling. Kiyo is waaaay better. Do you have a scar from where she bit you? That’d be sick as fuck!” Kokichi grinned.

“Ah… I don’t believe I do.” Kiyo brought a hand to his covered neck, rubbing lightly at where he had been bitten almost a year ago. “If there is any mark left, it is faint enough I no longer notice it.”

“Aww, that sucks. You’d look neat with a scar. Do you have any scars?”

“No.” Kiyo looked slightly annoyed at the question, and quickly changed the subject. “Hajime, what is our case today? You have given me no information on it.”

Kokichi made a strange face at his answer, but otherwise said nothing. Shuichi wondered briefly what that was all about.

Hajime started explaining the details of the case. “A family recently moved into a new place, and the parents called saying their kids are terrified, thinking they’re being haunted by a ghost. The parents seem very skeptical, but are calling us in to put their minds at ease.”

“What have the kids been complaining about specifically?” Shuichi asked. That was a lot less information than he was used to. It didn’t give them much to work off of.

“The parents haven’t seen anything firsthand, so I couldn’t get many details.”

“Will we have the opportunity to question the children themselves on their experiences with the entity?” Kiyo asked.

“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask when you get there.”

Kiyo shifted in his seat as looked up in thought, holding his head in his hand. “I hope they will be present. When are they expecting us?”

Hajime glanced towards the clock on the wall. “Around an hour from now. It’s a bit far out from here, so you’d probably want to leave soon.”

“We’ll head out now then,” Shuichi said. “Uh, if you’re ready, Kiyo.”

“Of course,” he replied, standing up gracefully. “Let us be on our way.”

──────────

The house was older, and decently large in comparison to the surrounding buildings, especially for being so close to the big city. It certainly looked old enough for a ghost or other creature to inhabit. It was much more likely that the children were actually haunted than simply exaggerating spooky noises and dark shadows, like they were told the parents thought. He and Kiyo had investigated their fair share of false alarms, but if the parents were as skeptical as Hajime made them sound, calling a team of ‘ghost hunters’ was probably a last resort for them.

“Wow, this house sure is spooky!” Kokichi exclaimed.

“Being old doesn’t automatically equal spooky,” Shuichi said.

“Old houses are quite beautiful. They are like a time capsule, showing us a captured image of people long ago. The way they erected buildings, decorated their personal spaces, and lived within them… It all changes depending on the culture and technology available at the time. Every building is its own history museum, something we can use to rediscover humanity’s pasts.” Kiyo held his arms around himself as he spoke.

“You know what? Forget I said anything. How long are we gonna stand out here for?” Kokichi whined.

Shuichi leaned forward and knocked firmly on the front door. “Don’t be a menace, Kokichi. We actually have work to do.”

“I’m never a menace.” Kokichi stuck his tongue out at him childishly. “And I don’t promise anything.”

The door opened to reveal a woman in her thirties with a stern expression on her face. She wore a button down shirt tucked into creased, high waisted pants, giving her a serious businesswoman look. Shuichi felt invaded by her intense stare. “Hello,” she said plainly.

Kiyo cleared his throat. “We are from Hope’s Peak Investigations. My name is Shinguji Korekiyo.” He gave a slight bow. “I believe you called us here on a ‘ghost haunting’?”

“...Yes. That is correct. Come in.” She stood aside to let them pass into her house.

The inside was very similar to the outside- older construction, outdated decor- but there were moving boxes scattered throughout the rooms and signs of renovation. There were unopened paint cans waiting to be used, and a wall that appeared to be in the midst of being torn down. “My daughters have been complaining of ghosts since we moved in a month ago. I do not believe in such things, but my eldest heard of your services from a friend and demanded I call you in.” She stopped and turned around next to a staircase leading up. “They share a room upstairs. Go and do whatever it is you need to do.”

Shuichi had debated with skeptics and nonbelievers in the past, but this was the first time he had been called to work for one. What was she expecting them to do? They had no information on what the problem could be, so they couldn’t figure out what steps to take to fix it.

“I apologize, but we cannot simply ‘do whatever we need to do’ without more information,” Kiyo explained civilly. “If possible, we would like to speak with your children so we may discover the exact problem.”

She crossed her arms and sneered at them. “There’s no need to keep up the act. I know your ‘ghost hunts’ are just a glorified scam. I’m only paying you to make my kids know they’re safe in our new house.”

Kiyo glared at her, holding a hand in front of him threateningly as he did when he got especially mad. “How  _ dare _ you. I have not spent years risking my life working with paranormal entities just to come here and be called a glorified scam artist. I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself unless you are looking for a knife skewered through your throat.”

“Oh, now I’m definitely not letting you anywhere near my kids. I was wondering if you people would turn out to be freaks.”

Shuichi reached forward to grab Kiyo’s shoulder in an attempt to ground him (or to be prepared to hold him back in case he snapped), but he stayed silent and continued to glare. Okay, okay- Kiyo was out of commission, and the client was upset, so Shuichi had to mediate. But… What did he say? If he insisted their work was real, she would label them as insane and kick them out, which would risk the safety of not only their family, but the entity residing in their house. If he played along, they wouldn’t have the information necessary to actually fix it, still leaving whatever is haunting them to torment their children. Oh no, he didn’t know what to say, and now there was an awkward silence and the woman was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something but he didn’t know what to say-

“Alright then,” Kokichi said. Shuichi looked down at him, slightly surprised at the interjection. “We’ll go then. I mean, after all, it’s just a scam, right? We don’t actually have to  _ pretend _ to do our thing, you can just lie to your kids and tell them we got rid of the ghost. Hey, we won’t even charge you!”

“Kokichi-”

“Fine then,” the woman cut him off before he could complain. “Get out of my house.”

“Though…” Kokichi put a finger to his lips and smirked as his voice lowered dangerously. “What if they don’t believe you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, let’s say your kids call you out on your lie, and they don’t believe we actually came here. They never saw us here. You have no evidence we were here. So they don’t believe you, and they make you call us back here until they think we took care of the ghost.”

She wrinkled her nose. “They’d believe me.”

“That’s some misplaced trust. Why don’t we go a bit further, then? They believe you. ‘Yay, the ghost hunters got rid of the ghost! We’re safe!’” he said mockingly. “But then they’re still scared. How can they be sure we did it when they didn’t see us do it? So they’re still afraid of the ghost, and they, once again, make you call us back here to take care of it again. And let’s not even mention what would happen if the ghost actually  _ was _ real, and your children’s lives were in danger, since we obviously made it up to scam frightened people out of their money.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Ni-shishi!” he laughed teasingly. “No threats here! Just telling you all the ways your poorly thought out plan could go wrong. All of which can be solved by you letting us interview your kids, by the way.” He turned around and started heading towards the front door, waving his hand. “See ya, then. Oh, but I have one piece of advice for you. If you say something confidently, people will believe anything. Even a half-assed, completely bullshit lie with little to no thought behind it. Have fun convincing them.”

She huffed, and looked around exasperatedly. “...Fine. Fine! You can talk to them. I’m just so tired of being woken up at 3 AM every day because they heard another bump in the night.”

Kokichi spun around on his heel with a wide smile on his face, looking very proud of himself. She glared at him, but still left to get her daughters, who were playing at a close neighbour’s place.

Shuichi sighed in relief. “Thank you, Kokichi. I was panicking a bit there. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t stepped in. I’m surprised she went for that, though.”

Kokichi waved his hand. “Ah, well, the good thing about being a manipulative snake is that you can talk people into doing virtually anything.”

Shuichi was a bit taken aback by that remark. Who calls  _ themselves _ a snake? Wasn’t that usually an insult?

Kiyo snickered quietly. “I must thank you. I doubt we would have gotten through to her without your silver tongue.”

“Aww, stop, you’re making me blush!” Kokichi put his hands behind his head casually, and smiled brightly, soaking up the praise.

They heard a door slam followed by loud giggling and footsteps.

“The ghost!” Kokichi gasped.

“That’s not a ghost. I’d assume the children are here,” Kiyo corrected him.

Sure enough, three little girls came barreling into the room, laughing about something among themselves. They were quite young, one maybe 4th or 5th grade, while the other two seemed to be older, perhaps 6th grade. When they entered, they stopped giggling and looked at the three men with blank faces. Shuichi was afraid they were scared and would refuse to talk to them, but then they turned to each other with wide smiles and started (loudly) whispering to each other.

“Is that them? Is that really them?”

“Yeah! That’s them! I remember the tall guy with the cool mask and the boy in the hat.”

“Oh my gosh! This is so exciting!”

He smiled. They didn’t work with kids often; if there were kids involved in a case, they were usually too scared of the monsters or the investigators themselves to talk. They either never saw the kids at all or only saw them in passing. It was rare to see kids idolizing them, but Shuichi would be lying if he said he didn’t like it in the rare opportunity they did.

Their mom came in after them. “Kids, it’s rude to whisper.”

Says the one who called them scam artists just a little while ago.

They all gasped and mumbled apologies, before one stepped forward excitedly. “Hey, hey, do you remember me? I’m Layla, you guys exorcised the demon possessing my dad a few months ago!”

Oh, now Shuichi remembered her. That was an emergency case, one they had been called in for by the police. Luckily, they had gotten there before the demon fully took possession of the man, so they were able to stop him from harming his family.

“Ah, yes. I remember that case. Tell me, are you and your family alright? Demonic possession is not a light thing.” Kiyo cocked his head to the side questioningly.

“Yeah! My dad still feels really bad about it, though. Um, he wanted me to tell you he’s sorry about uh, breaking your leg and stabbing you.” She rocked on her feet awkwardly.

Shuichi nearly had a heart attack that day. Yes, Kiyo had stopped the demon from hurting the family, but he did so by putting himself in harm's way and almost dying. Again. He wished he would stop doing that.

“Tell him I said it was not his fault. His strength was admirable; he did all he could. Besides, it was not the first time I was attacked by a supernatural creature, and it will not be the last.” He closed his eyes, likely smiling politely behind his mask.

She smiled crookedly, eyes gleaming with adoration. “Mhmm, for sure!”

“You’ve been attacked by monsters before?” The other older girl stepped forward next to her friend. “That’s so cool! Can you tell us about it?”

Before Kiyo could launch into a story, the mom interrupted. “I believe you had a reason for talking to my kids?”

“Ah, um, yes. That is correct.” Kiyo cleared his throat. “Apologies. My name is Shinguji Korekiyo. This is my coworker, Saihara Shuichi, and my friend, Ouma Kokichi. We were told by your mother that you have been complaining of a ghost haunting. Would you please tell us about your experiences with this ghost?”

The two sisters turned to their mom with disappointed looks. “Mommy,” the younger one said, “we told you it wasn’t a ghost!”

He shared a look with Kiyo. So it wasn’t a ghost? Interesting.

The mom sighed and waved her hand dismissively. “Ghost, demon, monster… It’s all the same to me.”

The older girl huffed and turned back to them. “My name’s Callie, and this is my little sister, Emma. Layla’s my friend, I learned about you guys through her. I dunno what my mom told you, but we’re not being haunted by ghosts. They’re more like… goblins.”

“Goblins?” Shuichi echoed. That was very different from ghosts.

“Yeah!” Emma exclaimed. “They’re like these tiny people.”

“Oh? You’ve seen them?” Kiyo asked. “What do they look like, exactly?”

“Like, people. But small. Maybe one or two feet tall.” Callie gestured the distance with her hands. “I don’t know exactly, though. I don’t actually see them much, they don’t like being looked at.”

Kiyo hummed and pulled out his journal and started jotting things down. Layla leaned over to Callie and whispered something in her ear, subtly pointing at it which made them giggle softly. Have young girls always giggled this much?

“Can you tell me what these ‘small people’ do?”

“At night, I’ll see and hear them running around our room, and-”

“They wake us up by pulling our hair and ears!” Emma interrupted.

Callie elbowed her lightly. “Yeah, they do that, too. And I’ve never actually seen them do this, but I’m pretty sure they’re hiding or breaking my things while I’m asleep.”

Kiyo nodded in affirmation, continuing to write down their observations. “How many are there?”

“Um…” Callie looked to her sister as she thought. “I honestly don’t know. Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen more than one at a time, but I always assumed there were more than one.”

“Me neither.”

Kiyo stopped writing and looked up at them. “What clothes does it wear?”

“Hmm… I’ve never really paid attention to what they wear.”

He tapped his pen against the page. “This is very important. Anything you can remember about its clothes, if it wears any at all.”

“They’re all ripped up!” Emma exclaimed. “He had a ripped up dress and pants with holes in them. I was wondering if he was cold, since it’s winter…”

He suddenly stopped tapping his pen, and looked at her with an intense stare. Shuichi hoped he didn’t scare her. “Did you give him anything?”

“No. I thought about it, but he was so small… none of my clothes would fit him.” She chewed on her thumb in thought, but she seemed unphased by his glare.

“Good. Don’t give it any clothes.” He closed his journal and put it back into his pocket.

“Does that mean you know what it is?” Shuichi asked him. He was familiar with many creatures that act the way the girls were describing, but he didn’t know any that couldn’t be given clothing.

“Yes. For surety, though, I have one last question; how did you gain possession of this house?”

“Why do you need to know?” the mom asked, suspicious.

“I want to be sure I am correct before moving forward. Was the previous owner of this house a family member? Or, maybe, the last owners died?”

She frowned. “It was my father’s. He left it to me in his will.”

Kiyo looked down. “I see. Both, then. I’m very sorry for your loss. I know the pain one feels when they lose someone close to them.”

The steely woman’s eyes softened. “I… thank you. Um, what does that have to do with…?”

Kiyo nodded and put a finger up like a teacher would. “I believe you have a brownie inhabiting your house. Possibly two. Brownies are house spirits who do chores for the house owners during the night. They generally follow the house owners to their new home if they move, instead of staying in the same house- that is why I had to know how you acquired this house. They are benevolent creatures, but if they feel underappreciated they may become hostile. I would suggest, instead of warding them off, you try giving offerings to them. You may find them extremely helpful.”

“But they’re scary!” Emma cried.

“Yeah, and they’ve been really mean to us,” Callie added.

“Only because they’re frustrated. They want to work for you, but when you give no offerings, it feels as though you do not care. At risk of sounding offensive, I must say I am surprised your father did not say anything about them to you,” Kiyo turned to the mother. “If he lived here, he would have known about the brownie. They tend to follow families, not houses.”

She had a hand on her chin, looking deep in thought. “I can’t believe any of this. What… what kinds of things do you give as offerings?”

“Food, mainly. Usually a bowl of milk or cream every night. Never clothing, though. If you give a brownie clothing, they will become offended and leave.”

She furrowed her brow. “I don’t believe it…”

“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Emma said, grabbing onto her mom’s arm and looking at her with concern.

“My father always left a bowl of milk on the living room table every night. There’s no way it’s because this is all real.” She sounded uncertain. “If it was, wouldn’t he have told me?”

“Whether you personally believe it or not, you should leave offerings. They are affecting your daughters’ sleep, but I refuse to ward them away before you attempt to make peace with them. If your father was leaving offerings, they have been serving your family for years. As much as you may not like them, this is their house as well. If they continue tormenting you even after offerings are given, we will come back to ward them, but I highly doubt that will happen.”

She looked at him with a blank look, before sighing and crossing her arms. “I don’t believe this. But… my daughters do, and my father apparently did, so I might as well try it.”

Kiyo bowed slightly. “Thank you. I think you will find that this will be the best option for both you and the brownie.”

This seemed to be satisfactory for her, as she said, “How do we do payments?” and lead Kiyo out of the room, leaving Shuichi and Kokichi alone with the three girls. The two older girls started talking as if the others weren’t even there.

“Isn’t he amazing?” Layla sighed.

“The masked guy?” Callie asked. “He was pretty smart, with how quickly he figured everything out.”

“He’s  _ so _ smart. And heroic. He saved me when the demon possessing my dad attacked me, it was so selfless, and he was so cool…”

That explained the lack of fear. Usually people found Kiyo creepy, between his clothing and outward personality, but it looks like this time he picked up an admirer. Shuichi held back a laugh, afraid that if he made any noise they would remember he was there and stop talking. He looked at Kokichi, who also looked like he was holding back laughter. They were so going to tease him about this.

Callie shrugged, indifferent to her friend’s swooning.

“And he’s really pretty,” Layla continued. “His hair’s so long, and he’s so tall, and I think he wears eyeliner. I wonder if he’d teach me how to put it on…”

Callie laughed. “Stop obsessing over him, it’s weird,” she said teasingly.

“It’s  _ not _ weird!” she huffed.

Kiyo poked his head back into the room, and both girls went silent. “Shuichi, Kokichi, we’re done here. It is time to go.”

As they left, Layla yelled behind them, “Ah, um, bye Mr. Shinguji! Good luck with your adventures!”

“Thank you, Miss Layla.” He gave her a little bow. “Remember to give your father my regards.”

The second they left the house, Shuichi and Kokichi burst out laughing.

“What is so funny?” Kiyo asked, genuinely confused.

“You never told me you were so popular with the ladies,” Kokichi said between giggles. “Shuichi’s gonna have to fight ‘em all off!”

Kiyo rolled his eyes. “I try to forget such things. It is… uncomfortable. Especially when said ‘lady’ is a grade schooler. It is highly inappropriate.”

Kokichi and Shuichi’s laughter petered out as they internalized what he said. “Wait,” Shuichi said. “How did you know?”

“How did I know the young girl was infatuated with me? I have spent my life observing humanity and their behaviors. It is simple to tell when one feels strong emotions if you know what to look for.”

“You’re making it sound like this is a common thing for you,” Kokichi said.

“Unfortunately, it is. I have encountered many women who have surface level attractions to me, even back in high school. I do wish it would stop… I have no idea what it is that draws them to me.” He looked down at himself with scrutiny, as if he would find the answer there.

_ Oh, I don’t know, _ Shuichi thought,  _ maybe it’s the fact that you are not only tall, dark, and handsome, but also have a mysterious air because of your clothing and manner of speaking and your stunning femininity makes you stand out in a crowd. _

“I mean, you’re an attractive guy. In a weird way.” Kokichi shrugged. “Like a vampire. I bet you get all those freaky Twilight fans running after you, wanting them to bite you. If only they knew you didn’t have a mouth…”

“Kokichi, I have a mouth.”

“I’ve never seen it, so I don’t believe you.”

“I investigate ghosts for a living. If I only believed what I could see, then I would not be here.”

He laughed, hands behind his head casually, but his face fell into a blank stare quickly afterwards. It was silent for a moment.

“...I wasn’t expecting you guys to take the side of the brownies,” Kokichi said in an uncharacteristic monotone voice.

Shuichi frowned and looked at him with the corner of his eyes. He was still walking the same, hands behind his head, just without his usual smile. “We don’t like to harm supernatural creatures unless we have to. Most of the cases we take involve malevolent creatures, obviously, but in the case where it’s not trying to kill us, we try our best to mediate and come up with a peaceful solution. I mean, you paranormal creatures are living on this earth just like us. It would be unfair if we eradicated you simply for being… you.”

“I have made many supernatural acquaintances during my years of investigating,” Kiyo continued. “You’ve met Gundham and Hajime already, but we are friendly with many more outside of the agency.”

“You didn’t take my side,” Kokichi muttered.

Is that what this was about? Shuichi felt bad for him all of a sudden. Granted, he hadn’t thought much about what would happen to the imp after they banished him from the house at the time. The client was crazy, and Kiyo was upset, and they never got to meet the imp while they were investigating. Now that he  _ had _ met Kokichi and gotten to know him better, he understood what he had been through, and regretted how they went about the situation.

Well, he understood about 10% of what he had been through. He didn’t give out much information about his personal life. Just like everyone else he knew.

He knew he had a home at one point, but he didn’t know anything about that home or how he lost it. Then, he had been homeless for an unspecified amount of time, hopping from house to house whenever he got caught. He was also clearly lonely, even if he had never said so himself.

“Well…” Shuichi started, thinking out his words carefully, “at the time, we didn’t know exactly what you were. All we knew was that you were bothering this man, and he wanted you gone. We were more focused way more on getting away from that crazy client, and less about what would happen to you, which was… not very fair of us. But, um, you came and found us, and you’re here with us now, right? I hope it’s obvious that, um, that we’re on your side now, even if we may not have been in the beginning.”

“That is correct,” Kiyo agreed. “We were distracted that day because of our unruly client, and we did not think things through all the way. For that, I apologize. However, we do enjoy your company, and I am glad you are here. I hope you may one day forgive us for our first transgressions.”

“Hmm…” Kokichi stroked his chin in mock thought. “Naw, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you. Though I might consider it if you buy me lunch.”

Kiyo exhaled a laugh. “I suppose we have no choice, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question: How many times has Kiyo nearly died during his work?  
> Answer: Too many to count. Someone please stop him, Shuichi's gonna die of stress.  
> Also, I am a firm believer of the 'Korekiyo is popular with women' headcanon. He's got that mysterious vampire vibe. He's the exact person young Twilight fans would fantasize over.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiyo and Shuichi get a couple visitors, one of which happens to be Kokichi's old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this a lot later in the day than I usually do, but I wanted to get this out since I took so long last time. I'm so sorry Gundham isn't here again, he's one of my favorite characters, but he just didn't fit in this chapter :(
> 
> Warning for a lot of swearing and sexual conversation. It's not bad, but I know some people can be sensitive to that :)

“I didn’t know paranormal investigation involved so many papers.”

Shuichi looked up from the folder he was sorting. They were in a side room at the office that Kiyo had set aside as his records room. The walls were lined with bookshelves filled with binders and manilla folders detailing every case they had taken and everything they had learned, as well as . He was sitting with Kiyo at the table in the middle of the room as they worked, while Kokichi sat on the floor and watched them, tail flicking back and forth. He had become comfortable enough at HPI to keep his imp features unhidden.

“It is important to keep records of every case we take and every creature we face. I do not want any of the information we have acquired to be lost to time.” Kiyo narrowed his eyes at the papers he was holding before straightening them and clipping them into a binder. “What if a case is related to one I took a year ago, or I need to review the weaknesses of a creature I have previously vanquished? If it is recorded, I do not have to rely on possibly faulty memory.”

Kokichi laughed sarcastically. “You’re  _ making _ extra work for yourself. Talk about OCD.”

“I do not have OCD. Record keeping has been extremely important in many societies for centuries. Are you saying the Romans and Incas were ‘OCD’ as well?”

“Yes. Yes I am.” He stood up from his place on the floor and slammed his hands down on the table, making Kiyo scramble to stop his papers from falling onto the ground. “You’ve been writing and filing and shit all day! I’m bored!”

Shuichi sighed. “Then go bother someone else. We’ve got two months of cases to record, it’s gonna take us a while.”

He leaned dramatically on the table. “But Angel-chan hates me,” he whined.

“Sonia doesn’t hate you. Get up, you’re ruining our papers.”

Kokichi grumbled but stood back up. “I know, but Sonia and Edgelord are both… weird.”

He wanted to laugh at that. Sonia and Gundham were too weird even for Kokichi? “And Kiyo isn’t?”

“Nah, Kiyo’s super weird.”

He scoffed in response. “I am highly offended,” he said with a playful tone in his voice.

“Awww, it’s okay, Kiyo-chan!” He draped himself over the back of his chair, wrapping his arms loosely around his neck. “We still love you. Riiight, Shumai?” He smirked at him from over Kiyo’s shoulder.

“Aha, yeah,” he laughed nervously. “It makes you more, like, special, y’know?”

Kiyo averted his eyes and pink peeked out on his cheeks from the top of his mask. “Ah, thank you?” he mumbled, then reached up and pulled Kokichi’s arms off his shoulders awkwardly.

The imp frowned very slightly and backed away a bit. His face flipped almost immediately into his usual bright smile, though, and he fake gagged. “Ew, stop flirting at work! This is a professional environment, you know!”

“Y-You started it!” Shuichi exclaimed, pointing a finger accusingly at him. “If we’re so boring and we’re bothering you so much, you’re free to leave!”

Kokichi stared at him blankly, and then abruptly burst into tears. “Saihara-chan h-hates me! He'd rather flirt with Kiyo than have me around!” he wailed. “Fine! I can see when I’m not wanted!”

“Wh- No, no that’s not what I meant,” Shuichi spluttered. “I’d much rather have you stay than not. I didn’t mean to make it sound like, um, like I didn’t want you here.” Great, now he had made Kokichi feel unwanted. He just wanted to suggest that if Kokichi was bored he was free to go somewhere else, but instead he had made it sound like he wanted to get rid of him. Nice going, Shuichi!

The tears stopped immediately and were replaced with a disgusted frown. Shuichi almost did a double take. Had he been… faking it? And had Shuichi really fallen for it? He was a bit disappointed in himself.

“No thanks, I’m not a big fan of voyeurism,” he scoffed.

“...What does that even mean?” Shuichi asked.

“As you said earlier, ‘this is a professional environment.’ Nothing of the sort will be happening here,” Kiyo said nonchalantly, closing the folder he had been working on and opening a new one.

“Kiyo, what does that mean?”

Kokichi smirked. “Oooh, does that mean something of the sort  _ could _ happen somewhere else?” he asked, completely ignoring Shuichi’s query.

“I do not see why it concerns you, but most likely not.”

“‘Most likely’ meaning ‘maybe!’”

“Guys, I’m begging you, please tell me what voyeurism is. I don’t like being left in the dark.” Shuichi groaned.

Kokichi and Kiyo shared a knowing glance before Kokichi burst out laughing. Shuichi felt like there was some inside joke he wasn’t in on. Maybe there was.

“Sometimes, the best way to learn is on your own,” Kiyo mumbled, avoiding eye contact. Code words for ‘figure it out yourself, I’m too embarrassed to tell you’. Perhaps Shuichi wouldn’t learn what it was. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

Before Kokichi had the chance to embarrass either of them further, they were interrupted by a knock before Sonia peeked her head through the door, a mildly frazzled expression on her face. “Um, Korekiyo? There is someone here demanding to see you.” She looked back into the main room and pursed her lips in concern. “Please come quickly.”

“I can spare a moment. I will come now.” He stood up and followed Sonia out of the room, leaving Shuichi and Kokichi behind.

“Who would be here looking for Kiyo-chan?”

Shuichi covered his mouth as he thought. “I don’t know. It could be someone looking to hire us, but most people just call, so that’s unlikely. More likely would be that Kiyo met someone he found interesting and invited them here.”

“Is that something he does often? Weirdo. Who invites people to their work when they want to talk to them?”

“Well, usually they’re either supernatural themselves or interested in the supernatural. It makes sense to invite them here. Just last week, while we were on our date, he-” Shuichi gasped. “Wait! I know who’s here!” He’s surprised it took him so long to remember. And he was supposed to be an ex-detective.

“Kiyo was networking during your date?” Kokichi snorted. “How rude. You shoulda told him off.”

“I’m interested in talking to them too. It would’ve been hypocritical if I got mad at him for it. Speaking of, I’m gonna go join them.”

“You’ve peaked my interest. Now I’ve  _ gotta _ meet your mystery guest.”

They left the records room and, sure enough, Miu was there just like he expected. She was clinging onto an unimpressed and annoyed Hajime, likely trying to seduce him. He wondered if she had found someone to feed off of after they parted ways last week, or if she was still starving. How long could a succubus go without feeding, anyway? He had never looked into them before, he had no reason to.

She had brought with her a man. Her boyfriend, he assumed. At first glance he looked human, but as he stared a bit longer, he could see that his eyes looked a little too glassy, and his skin a bit too shiny. He was an automaton, if Shuichi remembered correctly. Kiyo was on his knees behind him, lifting up his shirt and poking around, but Shuichi couldn’t see anything from where he was standing. He looked very flustered.

Kiyo shifted his arm, and he jumped. “Ah! K-Korekiyo, please do not touch that!”

“Oh?” he inquired. “Can you feel this then?” He moved his arm the same way, and the automaton jumped again.

“Y-Yes, I can! Please, stop!”

“Hey, you better not be hurtin’ my boyfriend, freakshow!” Miu yelled.

“I’m sorry, that was not my intention at all. Does it hurt?”

“Ah, no, not really. It just feels weird. B-But that does not mean you should do it again!”

Kiyo hummed dismissively and focused his attention back on poking in the man’s back, muttering to himself.

“Hey, slut!” Shuichi heard Kokichi yell from behind him. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Shuichi turned around in surprise. “You- You know her?” he asked. What were the chances of that?

“Eh?” She tilted her head in confusion. After a moment, her eyes lit up in recognition and she jumped up. “Cockichi?! Izzat you? Ha, I should be askin’ the same question! Last place I saw you was miles away from here!” She skipped over to them and put Kokichi into a headlock before he could scramble away.

“Ack! Bitch, get your ugly ass cow tits outta my face!” He pushed back against her and kicked to try and get out of her grasp.

“You should feel lucky I’m lettin’ you get this close! Most men would kill to be so close to these babies!” She let go of Kokichi to gesture at chest. Once he was free, Kokichi kicked her in the skin and she screamed, “You little asshole!”

He blew a raspberry at her and smirked. “That’s what you get!”

Before she could retaliate, the automaton spoke up. “Excuse me, Miu, but you know this…. small child?”

“Small-! You’re barely taller than me!” Kokichi pointed a finger at him accusingly. “And I’m 23!”

“Oh! I am sorry, you just look so- Ouch! Please do not touch that either!” he cried.

“I apologize,” Kiyo muttered absentmindedly, so focused on his observations that he didn’t even seem aware that he was talking.

“Ah… anyway…” he turned his attention back towards them, “We have not met before. I am K1-B0, but please, call me Kiibo.” He bowed his head slightly, trying to keep still for whatever Kiyo was doing behind him.

“Nice to meet you,” Shuichi said. “I’m Saihara Shuichi. This is-”

“I’m Ouma Kokichi, all powerful, mighty demon! Tremble before me!” He stuck his nose in the air and put his hands on his hips pretentiously.

Miu smacked the back of his head. “Oh no you don’t, you dirty lil’ lyin’ imp! As if any demons have wings as dinky as yours!”

He grimaced and rubbed the back of his head. “You’re a dumb whore. My wings are cute.”

“I think you mean ‘genius whore’, actually.” Shuichi sighed internally. His line of work attracted some weird people, didn’t it?

“Kiibo, may I take a look from the front as well?”

He hid his face in his hands. “...Fine. At least if I am facing you, I will be able to see what you are messing with.” He turned around and pulled his shirt up.

“If I am making you uncomfortable, you are welcome to decline.”

“I am not ‘uncomfortable’, necessarily. I just have not been looked at so intensely since I first met Miu.”

Kiyo hummed, only half listening. “Shuichi, you should come take a look too. I believe you’ll find him quite interesting.”

He was interested. “Miu said you were an automaton, right?” He walked around next to where Kiyo was kneeling. Although you could look at Kiibo’s face and be fooled into believing he was a living, breathing human, looking under his shirt made it obvious he wasn’t. His entire abdomen was filled with clockwork, encased in a cage to protect it from the outside. He could see gears and springs turning and moving inside. “Wow,” he breathed. “That’s pretty cool.”

“Ah, you think so?” Kiibo looked away from them, a small frown on his face.

“How do you keep it running?” he questioned. “Do you need fuel of any kind?”

“No. I- Ah, I told you not to touch that!”

“Oh, it’s the same part I saw from the back. Sorry.”

He humphed. “No. I do not require any fuel. My soul inhabits this body, and that is what keeps it running.”

“I think I remember Miu saying something about that. Someone made your soul, right?”

“Yes. My father- I mean, creator, Professor Idabashi, made both my soul and body. Ah- Korekiyo, be careful. The part to your left is sensitive.”

“Understood.”

“So, Kii-boy,” Kokichi said, drawing out the vowels.

“Do not call me that.”

“Uh-huh,” he said dismissively. “While I was listening, I was wondering… do you have a dick?”

Kiibo jerked his head to look at him, a horrified expression on his face. “Wh-Why are you wondering that?!”

“I’m just curious. We’re a curious bunch here, right Kiyo-chan?” He swayed back and forth on his feet with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“There is a limit to healthy curiosity, Kokichi.”

Kokichi fake gasped and put a hand to his heart. “I have been betrayed!”

Kiyo rolled his eyes. “Kiibo, would you mind sitting down so I may look at your legs? I wish to see how your joints work.”

“Don’t ignore me! I wanna know if he has a dick or not,” he pouted.

Miu laughed. “Of course he has a dick, Cockichi! I should know, I made it myself!” She looked incredibly proud of herself.

“M-Miu!” Kiibo exclaimed. “Why did you tell them that?!”

She came up behind where he had sat down and wrapped her arms around him, cooing at him. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, babe. The dick I made you is great. Much better than that bastard’s!” She laughed and pointed at Kokichi, who huffed and crossed his arms.

“I must agree, Kiibo,” Kiyo said as he inspected his leg. “Most people have sexual thoughts and feelings. They are nothing to be ashamed of.”

Shuichi coughed awkwardly, face radiated heat. “Haha, what was it that Kokichi said earlier… ‘This is a professional environment’? How about we keep the sex talk to a minimum?”

“I second that,” Hajime said, but he looked less flustered and more unamused.

Miu turned to them, hands on her hips and a frown on her face. “I’m a succubus. I was invited here  _ because _ I was a succubus. And now you wanna keep me from talkin’ ‘bout sex?”

Shuichi opened his mouth to rebut her, but… she had a point. He closed it again.

“I must ask, Miu, you imply you personally have worked on his body many times before,” Kiyo looked up at her from his spot on the floor in front of Kiibo.

“Well, yeah, duh. I  _ am _ a genius, after all. I do more work on him than Idabashi these days.” She smiled. “If you’ve got any questions, feel free to ask me.”

‘I’m afraid I don’t know much about robotics.” He stood up and brushed invisible dirt off his hands.

“If you do not know about robotics, why did you just spend half an hour looking at my internal functions?” Kiibo asked, exasperated.

“Hmm? Oh, I was just curious.” At his answer, Kiibo groaned and threw his head back. Shuichi felt bad for him. He knew how intensely Kiyo could study something.

"Um… Kiyo?"

He cocked his head in question. "Yes?"

"You referred to me as a person earlier, but…" Kiibo sighed. “But I am not a person.”

A confused expression crossed his face. “Why would you not be a person?”

Kiibo looked up at him in shock. “What do you mean? I am not human. I am a machine. An inanimate object given life.”

“What is your definition 'person', Kiibo?”

“...A homosapien.”

Kiyo sat down next to him. “The word ‘person’ carries much more meaning than just ‘homosapien’. You can think critically, rationally, and you can have deep, complex emotions. You have interests, and relationships, and a greater understanding of the world. To imply you are not a 'person’ because you do not possess a biologically human body, it implies that many of my other friends and colleagues are not people, and this is false. If someone says you are not a person simply because of your body, they are wrong.”

Kiibo simply looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face. They stared at each other for a moment, and Shuichi was about to break the uncomfortable silence, before Kiyo added, “I’m sorry, did I say something wrong…?”

“No. I-” he sniffed- “I think that is one of the kindest things anyone has ever said to me. If I could physically cry, I believe I would be right now.” Though no water leaked from his eyes, he wiped at them anyway. “Can you tell me more about what makes someone human?”

Kiyo’s eyes lit up in an excited smile. “Of course.”

Shuichi looked to Miu and Kokichi, who had also been silently watching their philosophical conversation. “Uh… They’re gonna be a while. Kiyo can talk about the deeper meaning of humanity for hours.”

“That’s okay!” Miu smiled. “I wanted some time to catch up with the abortion here.” She swung an arm around his shoulders, and he scoffed.

"Yeah. You gotta tell me how a sad slut like you wound up with a boyfriend."

Shuichi laughed. They acted almost like siblings. "How do you know each other, anyway?"

"We were friends as teens,” Miu explained. “Then I had to leave for the city because, believe it or not, small towns are not the best for hookups. I can only fuck the same guy so many times before he starts lookin’ for a more serious relationship.” She laughed as though she had just made the funniest joke. Maybe to her she had.

“So basically, she ditched me to fuck, and then we lost touch,” Kokichi added. He smiled a little too wide and elbowed her and she cried out in pain.

“I’m so glad we found each other again!” She patted his head affectionately, and Kokichi reached up to push her hand off, scrunching up his nose. “I missed ya, ya bastard.”

Kokichi huffed and crossed his arms. “I’d never miss a whore like you.” Still, there was a small smile on his face.

“I really can’t believe you’re here. I mean, I thought you were gonna stay in that small town with your kids forever.”

His… kids?

“Kids? Miu, I’m in my early twenties. I’ve never had any kids.” He looked just as confused as Shuichi felt.

“Don’t play dumb! You know, your little gang?”

“Gang? I couldn’t be in a gang! I mean, look at me!” He gestured to himself. “I’m small and defenseless. I couldn’t last a day in a gang.”

“Stop playin’ with me, Cockichi. You bragged about ‘em all the time.”

“I haven’t heard about any gang,” Shuichi said.

“That’s because there  _ is _ no gang.” Kokichi’s smile had dropped into a vaguely annoyed blank expression.

“He hasn’t told ya about ‘em? I’m surprised!”

“Miu, shut up,” Kokichi mumbled.

“He was always tellin’ me about his ‘evil secret organization’. Wouldn’t shut up about it!”

“Miu, I’m serious. Shut up.”

“I only ever met ‘em twice. Good group, if a bit mischievous. Then again, what would you expect from Kokichi’s friends?”

“Miu, shut the fuck up, you stupid dirty whore!” Kokichi yelled. The insult was not lighthearted like all his earlier ones. He looked thoroughly pissed, an expression Shuichi had never seen on his face before. Something about this ‘gang’ was seriously upsetting him.

Miu recoiled. “Wh-What? What did I d-do?” she whimpered.

“Are you so stupid that you can’t follow basic instructions? I told you to shut up, and you didn’t.”

At this point, the entire room had quieted and was looking at them. “H-Hey, Kokichi, calm down. I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it,” Shuichi said, attempting to fix the disagreement. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was upset about, but yelling wouldn’t make anything better. That, and any conflict made Shuichi anxious, so he wanted it solved as soon as possible.

“Then maybe she should have shut up when I told her to.”

“I-I just thought you were embarrassed… I d-didn’t know you were actually upset…” she stuttered.

“You call yourself a genius but you can’t even tell the difference between joking anger and real anger? I’m tempted to call you a liar. Maybe you’re actually stupid?”

“Kokichi, that’s really uncalled for,” Shuichi stated. He knew Kokichi could be annoying, but he hadn’t seen him act so cruel before.

“Oh? Did I ask for your opinion, Saihara-chan?” He put a finger to his mouth in mock thought. “No, I don’t believe I did.”

A hand was placed on his shoulder, and he jumped. Looking behind him, he saw Kiyo. How did he get there without him noticing?

“I understand you are angry, but lashing out will not fix anything,” he said calmly.

Kokichi scoffed. “Hypocrite. As if you don’t lash out whenever someone tries to make you talk about something you don’t want to. You’re worse than me by a long shot.”

Kiyo’s eye twitched. “I’m going to do more record keeping. Kokichi, you’re coming with me.”

“And if I don’t want to?” he challenged.

Kiyo didn’t respond. Instead, they glared at each other for an uncomfortably long time, locked in a silent battle. After what felt like forever, Kokichi sighed heavily. “Fine. Just get me out of here.”

Kiyo closed his eyes in a smile, though it felt a bit passive aggressive. “Wonderful. Come along, then.” He led him back into the record room and then Kokichi slammed the door behind him. Shuichi pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. Wow, this was a mess.

“What was that all about?” Hajime asked. Damn, he had forgotten he was there.

“I have no idea,” Shuichi said. “I’ve never seen him that mad before.”

“I’ve only seen him that mad twice. Once when I insulted his kids, and once when I told him I was leaving for the city. I must have really fucked up.”

Something about these ‘kids’ was really upsetting him. He desperately wanted to know more, but it would be rude to ask Miu to tell him when Kokichi so obviously didn’t want him to know about it. He’d definitely ask the imp himself at some point. Especially since now it was going to be all he could think about for a week. Maybe this had something to do with his past home?

They all jumped as a loud crash came from the records room.

“Um… Are they fighting in there?” Sonia asked.

Shuichi shook his head. “I doubt it. They’re just kinda like that.” Another crash, followed by a fluttering of papers, a loud “No!” and a sharp laugh. “My best guess is Kokichi’s throwing papers around and Kiyo’s trying to stop him. He’s probably just letting him do it to keep him busy or get his anger out.”

“A true martyr…” Hajime laughed. “I can’t believe he’s letting his precious documents get messed up for this.”

Shuichi couldn’t believe it either. What a sacrifice.

A beeping rang through the air, and Hajime looked at his watch. “Oh, the day’s over. I’m gonna go home.”

“We will leave as well, then,” Kiibo said. “It was very wonderful to meet you all.”

“Ah, wait!” Sonia exclaimed. “Before you go, I wish to extend an invitation to you! I am planning a holiday office party, and you are welcome to come!”

“I never heard about an office party,” Shuichi said. It was  _ his _ office, how had he not heard yet?

“Oh! I am sorry I did not notify you, Shuichi. I was simply thinking one day about how my family is miles away in Novoselic, and I would not be able to celebrate with them. Then, that made me think about how Gundham and Hajime do not have families to celebrate with either, and may be alone for the holidays. As a way to keep everyone from getting lonely, an office party would be quite ‘poggers’!”

Barring her terrible use of internet slang, the office party did sound like a good, wholesome idea. Leave it to Sonia to come up with something like that.

“Hell yeah I’ll come to your party!” Miu exclaimed, looking much happier than she was before. “It’s not like we’ve got any other plans.”

“Wonderful!” She clapped her hands together and a bright smile crossed her face. “The more the merrier!”

She passed on details of the party, which she and Hajime had apparently been planning for a month without telling him or Kiyo. He was slightly miffed by the fact they had neglected to tell him. Had they thought he would stop their plans if he heard? He was offended.

Then, they left, followed quickly by Sonia and Gundham, leaving him alone with Hajime.

“I’m probably gonna head out, too. Can you handle closing up? And, uh, whatever Kiyo and Kokichi are doing back there?”

Speaking of Kiyo and Kokichi, they had been surprisingly quiet for a long time. He hoped Kokichi had calmed down, and the silence was a good one and not a bad one. “Yeah, I can handle it. Have a good night.”

Hajime waved him goodbye, and left. Shuichi was alone. He suspected Kiyo might want to stay longer to keep writing- after all, they had two months worth of records to catch up on over their trip- but he was hoping that maybe with Kokichi there they would be able to convince him to leave now. Shuichi was usually more than willing to work late nights with him, but he wasn’t sure if tonight was the best night for it, after Kokichi and Miu’s fight.

He slowly opened the door to the records room, expecting to find a mess, but he was surprised to see it was clean, if you excused the normal amount of clutter Kiyo kept in the room. In fact, it might have been even cleaner than it was before. They were sitting in a calm silence, Kiyo copying information from his old journal to a binder and Kokichi folding paper cranes, already having made about twenty.

“You two are… relaxed,” Shuichi said.

“What? Do ya think I always cause problems? Sometimes I can sit quietly,” he said defensively. He finished another crane and threw it onto the pile, picking up another piece of paper to start again.

“You say that as if you didn’t throw all my June records on the ground the minute we entered this room.”

He slammed his hands on the table. “I thought you said you wouldn’t mention that!” he hissed. Kiyo simply laughed in return.

“Uh, everyone else has gone home.”

Kiyo hummed. “I’d prefer to stay longer. I have a lot of writing to do.”

He knew he’d say that.

“Kiyo-chaaaan,” Kokichi whined, “I don’t wanna stay here any longer! I’m bored, and hungry, and tired.”

He waved his pen in the air. “Then go home now with Shuichi. I will come later.”

“If you don’t come with us now, you’ll end up staying here all night,” Shuichi said.

He set his pen down and glared at Shuichi.

“Glaring at me won’t make me change my mind.”

He stared for a moment longer before sighing. “Fine. We can leave.”

“Oh, by the way, Sonia’s hosting a holiday party here.”

“In the office?” Kiyo asked, sounding slightly shocked. “Why haven’t I heard about this?”

“Yeah. I just heard about it too.”

“A party?” Kokichi gasped. “That’s so exciting! I love parties. We’re gonna go, right?”

“Sonia would never forgive us if we didn’t.” Shuichi wasn’t a big fan of parties, his social anxiety always got in the way, but he couldn’t stand to see Sonia’s disappointment if he didn’t show up.

“Awesome! Something to look forward to, then. You guys gotta bring me shopping soon too. So I can get presents for you!”

“You really don’t have to get us anything… and do you even have money of your own?”

“Nope! I was just planning on stealing yours.”

Shuichi laughed. At least Kokichi seemed to be happy again, for the time being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi: *looking up what voyeurism is after his curiosity gets the better of him*  
> Shuichi:  
> Shuichi:  
> Shuichi: Hey Kiyo what the FUCK
> 
> Yes, there is going to be a Christmas/holiday chapter or two. I planned them out back when I was first outlining this and I didn't realize they were going to actually end up being around Christmas, and they're probably going to actually end up coming out after Christmas. Rest in peace.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiyo, Shuichi, and Kokichi go to the mall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead! Hooray!  
> Seriously, though, sorry for disappearing without a trace and then not updating for a week or two. I got busy over the holidays, and then I got writers block, and... yeah. This chapter is longer than the others though! So that's good!

The shopping mall was crowded, as malls usually are during the holiday season. Shuichi grimaced and held closer onto Kiyo’s arm, which he had wrapped his arm around to keep from getting lost in the dense crowd. (Or at least that’s what he told himself. He might have ulterior motives.)

Kokichi had demanded they take him out to buy presents, even though Shuichi had assured him none of them were big gift givers except maybe Sonia. He said it was his way to ‘pay them back’ for everything they’d done for him, completely ignoring the fact that he was using Shuichi’s money to buy everything. It’s the thought that counts, he guessed. The minute they entered the mall he had run off after nicking his wallet and disappeared into the sea of people. How was he planning to find them when he was done?

Now he was alone with Kiyo, or as alone as you could be in a mall during late December. Someone brushed by his shoulder, and he instinctively moved closer to the other. He hated crowds, and he knew Kiyo did too. If it wasn’t for that, it might have been a pleasant outing.

“Why did we agree to come here?” Kiyo muttered, barely audible over the noise. “I am already feeling overwhelmed.”

“Me too,” he sighed. “Um, do you want me to let go of your arm…?” He didn’t want to be part of what was overwhelming him. Since he was so sensitive to touch, him clinging like this probably wasn’t helping.

He hummed. “No, you are fine. It helps us not get separated.” Someone brushed against his other shoulder, and Shuichi felt him tense up.

“What should we do while we wait? It’d be nice to find somewhere with less people,” Shuichi suggested.

“We look for a gift for Kokichi, of course.” He looked around at the stores lining the walls, each one filled with people. “What do you think he would like?”

“Even though he told us not to get him anything?” Kokichi had been very adamant that they didn’t have to get him any gifts. He said they had already done too much for him. Shuichi didn’t think anything they had done for him thus far deserved any paying back, but Kokichi was stubborn and the argument that could result from that didn’t seem worth it, so he let it go.

“I would feel wrong to accept a gift without giving one in return,” he responded. “I do not know what he would like, though…”

“You’d probably know better than me. You talk to him more.”

“Do I?” he said, slightly shocked. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Shuichi hummed. What would Kokichi like? “You play a lot of games together. Maybe you could get him a new game?”

“Would that not come off as though I was giving him a gift for myself as well? Considering I would be the one to play it with him.”

“Ah, um, I guess it could, but he does really like playing games with you. I don’t think he’d see it that way. If anything he’d see it as proof you like playing with him too.”

He held his cheek with the hand that Shuichi wasn’t holding onto. “Fair, but it doesn’t feel right.”

What else might he like, then? He didn’t have many personal possessions to begin with, so Shuichi thought he’d like just about anything. He supposed just anything wouldn’t be  _ special, _ though. Kiyo would want to give something special, something meaningful. Kokichi probably wouldn’t like any traditional symbolic gifts, like artwork or jewelry, so what else would work? He was pretty childish, so…

“Maybe he’d like a stuffed animal?”

Kiyo looked at him, cocking his head in question. “A stuffed animal? Do you really think he would like that?”

“I think so, yeah. You can pick an animal that’s symbolic for something. He’d definitely appreciate the thought behind it.”

“That is a wonderful idea, Shuichi. However, are you sure a stuffed animal is the best choice? Surely a figurine would be nicer.”

He shook his head. “No, Kokichi wouldn’t want something you just look at. He’d want something he can touch. A stuffed animal is perfect.”

“You make a good point. Very well.” He closed his eyes in a smile. “A stuffed horse, then.”

He chose an animal quickly. He was expecting him to think a bit longer than that. “Why a horse?”

“It’s quite simple, really. His surname, ‘Ouma’, means king horse. There is much other symbolism relating to the horse that embodies Kokichi, of course. I wouldn’t pick an animal based on that alone. For example, horses are often a symbol of living freely without restraint. He’s much of a free spirit, doing whatever he wants seemingly without caring what those around him may think. It’s also a symbol of power, which he appears to crave…”

Kiyo continued listing off horse symbolism that he had apparently memorized at some point. Shuichi was impressed in a strange way. He doubted Kokichi would know any of it beyond “Ouma means ‘king horse’” but he was sure he’d appreciate the sentiment. Especially after Kiyo spent half an hour explaining it to him.

While Kiyo lectured him, Shuichi found an appropriate horse plushie. He was stuck between a normal black and white one to match the scarf he always wore and a dark purple one as purple was his favorite color. Kiyo grabbed both horses from his hands and put the black and white one back on the shelf.

“He’d prefer the purple one,” he interrupted himself to say. “He always chooses purple over any other color palette. Also, did you know purple is often a color associated with royals, leading again to his surname? When colors were harder to obtain, blue and purple were the hardest, rarest, and therefore most expensive colors around. That is why many royals wore blue and purple, as it was an expression of their massive wealth.”

He continued lecturing as they bought the gift, gaining him slightly odd looks from the cashier. If it were Shuichi, he would have been embarrassed and quieted down, but Kiyo either didn’t notice or (more likely) didn’t care what anyone thought. Shuichi always admired that about him.

After bagging the gift and hiding it the large pockets in his coat so Kokichi wouldn’t see it if he snuck up on them, Kiyo smoothly slid his hand down Shuichi’s arm and threaded their fingers together. The pose mimicked how they were before they entered the store, except now Kiyo was actively reciprocating instead of simply letting Shuichi hold onto him. His mind blanked and he found himself unable to focus on anything other than the warmth of Kiyo’s bandaged hand within his own, and the security of their arms linked together.

His thoughts went into overdrive. It was rare for them to share much contact beyond reassuring shoulder touches. It was even rarer for Kiyo to initiate it. Now he was out in public willingly holding hands with him. What did it mean? It could just be he didn’t want to get separated in the crowd, but this pose was a bit too intimate to be just that. However, the only other possible option was that Kiyo actively  _ wanted _ to hold hands with him, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to think about that yet.  _ That _ would shift their relationship from ‘close friends’ to something beyond, and although Shuichi was one hundred percent okay with that, he wasn’t sure if he was ready for the conversation he would have to have to make that happen.

“-Shuichi, are you listening?” Kiyo asked. He looked more concerned than upset. “You are spacing out. I apologize if I am boring you…”

“Uh, no, you’re not boring me! I was just deep in thought…”

He looked at him with a small smile in his eyes. “May I ask what is occupying your mind so much?”

He nervously laughed as he thought through his options. One: he tells Kiyo exactly what he was thinking about, resulting in an extremely awkward conversation that he didn’t want to have in a crowded mall. Two: he lies about what he was thinking about, Kiyo sees through it because Shuichi was a horrible liar, resulting in an awkward conversation about why he bothered to lie. Three-

“Your eyes have glazed over again,” he interrupted his thoughts. The smile left his eyes. “If you don’t wish to tell me, then just say so.”

“It’s not that...” he trailed off. He did want to talk to him about it, someday, but now was not the time.

“Is it- is it the hand holding?” he stuttered uncharacteristically. “I’m sorry, I just assumed… I should have asked for permission first. I’m sorry.” He started to pull his hand away, but Shuichi held it closer.

“No, no, it’s not that either!” Well, it kind of was, but not in a negative way. “You don’t have to ask for permission to hold my hand,” he muttered under his breath.

“Can you repeat that? I didn’t catch it.”

“Ha ha, it doesn’t matter! We can talk about it later!” He smiled nervously at him.

“Ah… if you’re sure…” Kiyo looked completely unconvinced, but dropped it anyway. He scanned the crowded mall. “I do not know when or how Kokichi will come find us, so I suppose we have some more time. Is there anything  _ you _ want to get?”

“Um, no, not really.” He didn’t go to the mall to buy things. He went to the grocery store for food, and everything else he bought online. It was the easiest way to avoid social interaction. What if the cashier judged what he was buying? What if he ran into someone he knew at the store? There were more cons than pros in his mind.

“I don’t particularly know what we could do, then…” He stroked his chin with his free hand.

“Why don’t we just find a place to sit and wait? It would get us out of this crowd.”

“Good idea. It will be easier for Kokichi to find us if we stay in one place as well.”

They sat on a bench near the mall entrance in a slightly awkward silence, hands still linked together and resting between them. For once Shuichi was grateful for the fact Kiyo bandaged his hands and arms, because now he didn’t have to worry about his anxiety-induced sweaty hands turning him away. He tapped his feet on the ground restlessly.

Kiyo nudged him with his arm. He looked up to see him staring at a group of teenagers. “What do you suppose they’re doing?” he asked him quietly.

He looked at the group. They looked like a normal group of kids at the mall. “Normal kid stuff, I guess. What, does something look off to you?”

He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being too suspicious.” Shuichi could feel his fingers twitching in his grasp.

He took a closer look at the group. If Kiyo was suspicious of them, there must have been a reason behind it. There were seven of them altogether, sitting at a table outside a coffee shop and talking loudly. Two of them, however, were sitting a bit farther away from the others. At first glance they appeared as a normal over-the-top high school couple, but as Shuichi looked closer he started noticing odd things. One of them, the boy, looked normal, but the girl looked slightly off. Her face looked uncanny, as if it was almost human but not quite, and when she smiled her teeth looked too sharp. She wore a large sun hat, an odd choice for winter.

“You’re suspicious of the girl, right?” he dropped his voice to a whisper. “I don’t know what she might be, but she doesn’t look quite human.”

“So you agree? Interesting.” He tapped his chin. “As much as I would like to confront her, I have no evidence that she is supernatural, much less that she might be malevolent. But with how smitten the boy appears and everything I know about creatures that seduce to kill, I do feel a bit wary. Then again, I might just be overly paranoid...”

The girl cupped her hands around her partner’s ear and whispered something to him, and he blushed and laughed.

“What would you do if she  _ was _ planning on killing him? Or something like that.”

“I’d like to save the boy, if possible. I might follow them if they leave before Kokichi comes to us.”

“You’re not going to win in hand to hand combat with any magical creatures.”  _ Or anyone, really. _

Kiyo looked at him with an off putting glint in his eyes. “You think I go around without protection?”

Shuichi was too afraid to ask for clarification on that, nor did he feel it necessary to do so.

The group of kids suddenly got up, throwing out the empty cups of coffee (if you could call those sugary abominations ‘coffee’) and started walking back into the main part of the mall. Now that they were standing, Shuichi could see it wasn’t just her face that was uncanny, but her whole body. She was startling tall, enough so that her boyfriend struggled to keep his arm wrapped around her shoulders, though he still tried. Her proportions made her look just a bit too lanky. But, as Kiyo said, it wasn’t evidence she wasn’t human. Awkward proportions can be completely natural.

They watched them leave for a few seconds, before Kiyo abruptly broke their contact and stood up. “Let’s go, then.”

“You’re actually going to follow them?” Shuichi rushed to stand up and follow behind him as Kiyo walked quickly to catch up with them.

He didn’t respond, keeping his eyes on the teens. Shuichi felt a bit panicky. Once again, Kiyo was actively seeking out trouble where there might not be any.  _ ‘Even when you’re on break, work finds you,’ _ he remembered Kaito saying. He was starting to see how truthful that was. He was afraid of this going south.

Shuichi would be lying if he said he wasn’t also suspicious, though. That said, he would also be lying if he said he wasn’t incredibly concerned about jumping into this with little reason and no thought.

“What if she realizes we’re following her? I mean, you don’t exactly blend into a crowd.”

“I am going to take that as a compliment,” he said playfully. “We are in a crowded mall. She will not notice us unless she is, for some reason, on alert. If she’s innocent, she will likely not notice nor care about us.”

“And if she does?” He was getting a bad feeling about this.

“Then she will confront us, or she will attempt to evade us, in which case we continue to follow and eventually confront her.”

‘Confrontation’ meaning ‘fight’, most likely. Shuichi hoped it didn’t come to that. He was sure Kiyo was hoping it did.

The girl again leaned into the boy and whispered something into his ear. He could see her awkwardly sharp smile from here. The boy smiled back and nodded. Then they slowed down and subtly broke away from the rest of their friends, completely unnoticed.

“Do you think they’re…” Shuichi trailed off, watching the couple dive down a dark hallway.

Kiyo didn’t answer and went to follow them. Before he could leave him behind again, Shuichi grabbed his arm to stop him. “If you follow them down there, they’ll definitely notice you. Those end corridors tend to be completely empty. We don’t even know if there’s anything wrong…”

He turned around slightly to face him, and Shuichi couldn’t read his expression at al. “If we follow and there is nothing wrong, then we simply walk in on a couple of teenagers who wish for some time alone. If we do not follow and there is something wrong, one of them may end up dead. It’s better to be safe than sorry, yes?”

“Well, yes, but…”  _ It’s not exactly the safest option for us, is it? _

“No other objections?” he huffed. “The longer we wait, the less time there is to stop her. May we go?”

Shuichi looked around nervously and shuffled his feet. It wasn’t the first time they had rushed into a situation like this, but Kiyo so often got carelessly hurt when they did, and he didn’t want that to happen. Not to mention they were wholly underprepared, and if they ended up being a powerful creature, they would end up in an impossible to win fight. If he stopped him, though… What if someone died, a death they could have prevented?

“Fine. Let’s go.”

They went down the hall and found it empty. There were two bathrooms, one male and one female, a couple of very unused benches and a glass exit door at the end. There didn’t seem to be much evidence of anyone having been there, despite how crowded the mall was at that moment.

“They wouldn’t have left, would they?” Kiyo asked, looking around.

“I doubt it. Where would they go? If they’re doing what I think they’re doing, they definitely went into one of the restrooms. ...They’re probably in the men’s restroom,” he said after a moment of thought.

“The men’s?”

“I mean, I can’t say anything for the supernatural, but if I was a woman trying to kill my boyfriend I would kill them in the men’s restroom to try and divert suspicion away from me.”

“You think about this often, then?” He put a hand on the bathroom door and gave Shuichi a teasing look.

“I-! I was a homicide detective, we think about these things a lot!” he sputtered. Kiyo laughed.

Before he could open the door to the bathroom, a shout came from within before being suddenly cut off. They looked at each other with wide eyes before Kiyo slammed the door open and they both barreled into the bathroom.

It was a small and cramped bathroom, only one stall and a few urinals, which made sense considering where in the mall it was located. The door to the stall was just enough for them to see the boy’s head lying on the ground as his hand limply poked out from under the wall. A large white fox was standing over him, looking at them with surprise.

“Holy shit, you were right,” Shuichi exclaimed.

“‘I’? You suspected her as well,” Kiyo said. “You deserve some credit as well.”

The fox poked the front half of her body outside the stall. “What? How?!” she snarled.

“You didn’t  _ look _ 100% human,” Shuichi muttered. “Then again, we kinda do this for a living, so maybe you do to someone who doesn’t know any better…”

“Shuichi, please stop making conversation with the fox.” Kiyo put his hand in his pocket and leaned forwards in an attack-ready stance. He had that slightly crazed, exhilarated expression he always had when confronting dangerous situations.

She looked around and Kiyo laughed at her. “There is nowhere to escape. There is only one exit to this bathroom, and it is behind me. You have cornered yourself.”

She crouched and growled at them. They stood staring at each other in a stalemate as Shuichi stood awkwardly nearby. He had a very bad feeling about this.

“Kiyo… I don’t think we’re appropriately equipped for this situation. All types of fox spirits are powerful-”

“So what should we do instead? Let her go so she may kill more people?” He didn’t take his eyes off the fox.

“What are  _ you _ planning to do? We don’t have the means to kill her!”

“I can try.”

The fox was startled into action at the mention of killing her, and she lunged forward out of the stall, revealing her nine long white tails. Just as Shuichi suspected- some form of nine tailed fox, and most definitely too powerful to take on right now. At the same time, Kiyo whipped a scarily large switchblade out of his pocket and brandished it at her.

“Where did you  _ get _ that?”  _ And is it legal to carry around?! _

“Does that matter right now?” Kiyo said exasperatedly. Shuichi  _ supposed _ it did not matter at that exact moment, but he was definitely dodging the question.

“We’re talking about this later.”

“Fine- Ack!” he sputtered as the fox jumped at him. He dropped his knife as they both fell and rolled on the cramped bathroom floor until they hit the wall. Kiyo groaned as his head hit the wall, but even in his disoriented state, he kept a firm grip on the fox’s leg, keeping her from running away.

“Kiyo! Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine, just- the knife, Shuichi, grab the knife and-” He was cut off as the fox slammed his head into the wall again, attempting to loosen his grip.

“You can’t kill me with that measly thing!” the fox yelled. “I’ll leave the boy alone, just let me go!”

“So you can go kill someone else?” Kiyo yelled back. The fox struggled to free herself and scratched up Kiyo’s arm and coat as she kicked at him.

This was bad. There was no way they could win this. “Kiyo, let her go.”

“I refuse to let her kill again!” He looked at him with an anger that had never been directed towards him before. If it was in any other situation, he would have backed down in fear, but Kiyo was endangering himself  _ again _ in a situation he physically could not win and Shuichi didn’t want him to die.

“If you don’t let go of her, I’ll make you let go of her.”

“You’re supposed to be my partner!”

Shuichi leaned down and picked up the switchblade, closing it and pocketing it. “Okay, and as your partner, I am putting your safety over everything else.”

Before Kiyo could respond, the bathroom door was kicked open and slammed into the wall behind it hard. “Saihara-chaaan! Kiyo-chaaan! Are you two in here? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

The loud noise startled Kiyo enough to where his grip loosened, and with another kick to the head, the nine-tailed fox was free. She leapt past Kokichi, who was standing in the doorway in shock, and ran down the hall in the direction of the exit. She was gone.

Kiyo brought his hands to his head and curled into a ball, groaning. With having his head hit three times, he probably had a concussion and was in a lot of pain. Shuichi was surprised he hadn’t lost consciousness.

“What the fuck happened in here?” Kokichi asked, looking around in confusion. “And what was with the fox?”

“It was a gumiho,” Kiyo said darkly, “and we let her get away.”

“We had to. You know that. She would have  _ killed _ you.”

“And now she’s going to go off and kill someone else. Wonderful,” he muttered.

“I’ll admit, I dunno much about… whatever that was,” Kokichi said with an inappropriately happy voice, “but I think Shuichi’s probably right. Becoming a martyr wouldn’t have stopped her, either.”

A groan came from the bathroom stall. Oh crap, he had completely forgotten about him!

“Wait, is there someone else in here?” Kokichi asked.

“Uh, yeah, the guy the, um, g-gumiho was gonna eat. Or, well, kill, I guess I’m just assuming she was gonna eat him-”

“Oh, no, she was. Probably his liver. I don’t think they eat the whole body,” Kiyo muttered again.

Kokichi made a face. “That’s disgusting.”

“And now she is going to go eat someone else’s liver. Thanks to you two.”

“Hey, what did I do?” Kokichi grumbled. “Shuichi I maybe understand, but  _ I  _ had no idea you were in an intense battle to the death in the near abandoned mall bathroom with a man eating fox spirit. I was just looking for you.”

“If you hadn’t opened the door so forcefully and yelled, I wouldn’t have lost my grip on her, and then-”

“And then what? You can’t expect me to believe you’d win against a nine-tailed fox bare-handed. I may not be an expert but I know those things are super strong.” Kokichi’s playful expression had turned into a serious and malicious sneer.

“I-! I could have tried.”

“Tried, and died?” He laughed darkly at his rhyme. “And then what? You would have left me, Shuichi, and the rest of your agency all alone? Because you couldn’t stand to let one creature beat you?”

“It’s not about being beaten, it’s about her being free to kill again!” Kiyo yelled, flinching at his own volume. He finally looked up at them. “What do you know about fox spirits, anyway? I could have beaten her if I tried.”

“Mhmm, okay, I totally believe you,” he said sarcastically, checking his nails.

The boy from before stumbled out of the bathroom stall, interrupting their argument. “Jackie…? Where’s Jackie?”

They all stared at him in silence for a moment before Shuichi spoke up. “Ah… do you mean the girl in the sun hat? You might want to just forget about her. Do you not remember what happened?”

“...You mean that wasn’t a dream?” He rubbed his head. He was very calm for someone who just almost died. Maybe he was in shock?

“Um… do you have anyone you can call to take you home?” Shuichi asked, tactfully avoiding the real question.

“I came here with some friends…” he trailed off as he pulled out his phone. “Damn, they’ve been texting me nonstop. I should probably get back to them. Uh… sorry for intruding on… whatever this is?” he gestured between the three of them.

“We should be going too. Right guys?” Shuichi looked between them with a silent plea in his eyes.  _ Please be civil with each other, just for a little while, I’m begging you. _

“Yeah! I’m totes bored now. I mean, I spent like hours looking for you. Who knew you were hiding out in this dingey old bathroom? It’s almost like you were purposefully hiding from me!” He burst into fake tears.

“Kokichi, don’t lie, you know that’s not why. Can you walk, Kiyo?”

“Of course I can.” Kiyo uncurled and pulled himself up onto unsteady feet using the wall. He tried to take a step forward but wavered on his feet and fell into Shuichi.

“I’m gonna take that as a no. Kokichi, do you think you could help me get him out of here? We’ll take a bus home.”

“I mean, I’m a lot shorter than him so I’m not sure how much good I’ll be, but I’ll try, I guess.”

“‘M really sorry,” Kiyo slurred into his ear. “My… My behaviour had been very childish, and now I’ve fallen…”

Shuichi laughed nervously and flushed. This was so uncomfortable. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll talk more once you’re more with it, okay?” he said softly and slowly, as if he was talking to a child. Kiyo would hate him right now if he wasn’t concussed.

He hummed. “Okay.”

──────────

They were quiet the whole way back to their apartment. The tension in the air was thick; he could feel frustration radiating off both Kokichi and Kiyo. Shuichi himself was quite upset, but he knew it was just Kiyo’s nature to risk his own safety for the sake of his work. He also knew Kiyo wasn’t the kind of person to hold grudges for long. He was sure it would be easy for them to make up once Kiyo was thinking more clearly.

He couldn’t say the same for Kokichi, however. The last time he saw him legitimately upset was with Miu and they hadn’t spoken to each other since, so he wasn’t sure if Kokichi was still upset with her. He had no idea whether Kokichi was one to forgive and forget or hold a grudge for years to come. He desperately hoped it was the former. The two were such good friends, he didn’t want to see them break apart over this. That and it would be awkward if the three of them lived under the same roof with all this tension.

He struggled to unlock the door of their apartment while balancing most of Kiyo’s weight on one shoulder (Kokichi was right, he was too small to help much, so Shuichi ended up carrying him mostly on his own). The minute the door opened, Kokichi rushed in ahead of them and shut himself in Shuichi’s room. Definitely still mad, then.

“I’m really tired,” Kiyo muttered quietly. “And I think I can walk on my own now.”

“Aren’t you not supposed to sleep when you have a concussion?” Shuichi asked. “And don’t argue that you don’t have one, you definitely do.”

“That’s a myth.”

“...Okay, I’ll believe you.” He helped Kiyo walk to his room and sit on his bed. Even though Kiyo was walking fine now, Shuichi couldn’t help but worry he might fall.

He turned around and examined the room. He hadn’t been in there in a long time. It was Kiyo’s safe space, where he went when he wanted to be alone, so he felt awkward entering at all. It was cluttered; pictures littered the walls and scale models of artifacts took up the shelves. He recognized a lot of photos of the both of them from their work trip a couple of weeks ago, but most of them were just photos of buildings and statues, empty of Kiyo or anyone else. His bookshelves were stuffed full of books- ones for entertainment, ones for study, and what Shuichi assumed were his journals. Based on the sheer number of them, it looked like he had been saving them for years. What Shuichi wouldn’t give to look through those. Not that he would disrespect his friend’s privacy, of course.

He looked back at the bed to see Kiyo sitting on the edge and staring at him curiously. “Didn’t you say you were tired? Aren’t you gonna lie down?” Shuichi asked.

He rubbed at his eyes sleepily. Shuichi would have found it cute if he wasn’t so concerned for his health.

“...I wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior,” he finally said. “I recklessly entered a life threatening situation and had to be pulled out of it by you, and then threw a childish fit over it. It was uncouth of me, and rude to not only you but Kokichi as well. I’m sorry I acted in such an embarrassing manner.”

What a very Korekiyo way to apologize. He shuffled his feet, feeling very uncomfortable about what he felt was an unnecessary apology. “I know you want to stop as many deaths as possible. I just wish you didn’t always get yourself hurt in the process.”

“Ah.” He cleared his throat. “You’re not… mad?” he timidly asked. Shuichi wasn’t used to seeing him this unsure.

“I was at first, but now that I’ve calmed down I’m mainly just worried about you. I don’t like seeing you get hurt and… you do it so often.”

“I see.” He started muttering to himself under his breath, soft enough Shuichi was unable to make out anything.

When it became obvious Kiyo wasn’t going to say anything more, Shuichi said, “Kiyo, if you’re tired, you should rest.”

“Ah-! You’re still here?” he said to himself so softly Shuichi almost didn’t hear it. “Not yet. I should apologize to Kokichi as well. I was rude to him.”

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’s… I may not be mad at you, but I think he is.”

“All the more reason to apologize.”

“After you rest.” Shuichi folded his arms over his chest. He really did feel like Kiyo’s caretaker sometimes. “He needs to cool off, and you need to rest after getting your head hit so many times. Okay?”

Kiyo grumbled but lay down anyway. “Fine. I concede. You are right, anyway; I am too tired to do much else at the moment.”

Shuichi smiled as the other pulled the covers of his head. If only he was this easy to dissuade normally. “Sleep well,” he said. Taking one last look around the room, he left to check on Kokichi.

He knocked on his bedroom door. “Not interested!” the response came.

“It’s Shuichi. I just wanted to see if you were okay?”

“I’m fine. Your room is my property right now. Go do something else. Make out with your boyfriend or something.”

He blushed and huffed. “Whatever. I’ll be reading in the living room if you want me.” He didn’t get another reply.

He really hoped they got over this quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi: Resident Bisexual Disaster.
> 
> I kinda went off my original outline for this chapter, so if it feels out of place... that's why. I outline the whole fic before I start writing, but I decided I really needed a bit more angst before the next part and I wanted to write more action-y supernatural fighting stuff, so I changed up this scene a LOT.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiyo and Kokichi aren't getting along. Shuichi can't stand it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst. angst. angst.

They did not, in fact, get over it quickly.

The next day they were sitting in the living room, and the tension was still high between Kiyo and Kokichi; it had taken all morning for Kokichi to even come out of hiding and sit quietly with them. Shuichi was sitting between them doing logic puzzles. On one side, Kokichi was playing a game on the handheld he owned, violently hitting buttons and making it very obvious he was still upset without explicitly saying so. On his other side, Kiyo was curled up reading some historical memoir, and Shuichi could see him occasionally glance at Kokichi with concern.

Eventually, Kiyo sighed and closed his book. “Kokichi, I-”

“Don’t wanna hear it,” Kokichi said curtly, not taking his attention off his game.

Kiyo was mildly taken aback by being interrupted. “I… I just wanted to apologize-”

“Don’t care.”

Kiyo huffed, getting impatient. “I really am sorry for-”

“You know, Kiyo-chan, you apologize for everything,” Kokichi interrupted again, drawing out his vowels tauntingly. “Don’t you know that if you apologize too much, the apologies mean less?”

“Oh- I’m sor- I mean…” Kiyo muttered something under his breath. “I just want to make amends.”

“For someone who spent years studying ‘humanity’ or whatever, you’re really bad with people.”

“I am not bad with people.”

“Oh no, you definitely are. You’re super creepy, and talk weird, and-”

“That’s quite enough, Kokichi,” Kiyo said, but Kokichi spoke over him.

“-you ask people uncomfortable questions about themselves-”

“I’m serious. Stop.”

“-and then whenever someone tries to ask  _ you _ a question for a change, you never answer truthfully. You lie about the weirdest things. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were hiding something!” Kokichi finished cheerfully, but his smile and words were dripping with venom.

Kiyo stared at him silently, eye twitching with repressed anger. He took a deep breath, stood up, and shut himself in his room without a word. Kokichi kept his eyes glued to his game, but after the door was shut, he laughed bitterly.

“Kokichi, that was really uncalled for,” Shuichi sighed and put a hand to his head.

“Hmm? What was? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb. He’s just trying to make up with you. I don’t even know why you’re so mad at him.” Sure, Kiyo had done something stupid and then acted out a bit, but in Shuichi’s eyes that wasn’t something anyone should be that angry about. Especially not Kokichi who hadn’t even been there most of the time. Sure, maybe he had said a few rude things to him, but was that enough to spark this amount of outrage?

“I don’t really wanna talk about it. Why do you even care?”

“Because I don’t like seeing my friends fight…”

Kokichi frowned, looking almost apologetic for a moment, before his face hardened again. “Well, it’s not about you. So step off.”

Shuichi tapped his fingers frantically against his pencil. He really felt like he should say something here, but he had no clue what would be appropriate. Shuichi looked at him from the corner of his eye. Kokichi’s brow was furrowed and he glared at his handheld as he played. He sighed again and moved his attention back to his puzzles. They’ll get over it eventually.

──────────

Kiyo tried to make up with Kokichi a few more times after the first attempt, but each one was just as disastrous as the last. He would try to start a conversation with him only for Kokichi to either childishly ignore him or insult his character enough times for him to get frustrated and leave. At some point, Kiyo just stopped trying.

“I don’t know what else to do,” he had told Shuichi one night. “I’m not even sure what he is angry about anymore.”

Shuichi didn’t know what to say to that. He had no idea either.

“Maybe it is me,” Kiyo finally sighed. “Maybe this is his way of telling me he does not wish to associate with me anymore.”

“I’m sure that’s not it!” he exclaimed. “It’s probably…”

Kiyo looked at him with tired eyes as he trailed off. He racked his brain, but he couldn’t think of a single reason Kokichi would be so mad at him. “I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry too,” Kiyo muttered.

Shuichi didn’t bother asking what he was apologizing for.

Kiyo stopped initiating conversations with Kokichi, having apparently decided the real issue must have been him personally and giving Kokichi room was the best option. On the positive side, this meant they no longer argued any time they saw each other. On the negative side, however, it meant that an awkward tense silence blanketed them whenever they were in the same room.

If either did try to talk,whether it was to each other or Shuichi, it would inevitably lead to another argument. No matter how the conversation started, it would lead to Kokichi taunting Kiyo, then Kiyo retorting with a comment about Kokichi’s immaturity, and they would go back and forth until one of them got fed up and left.

Unlike their usual arguments, which were playfully thought-provoking discussions on the silliest topics, these were always filled with personal and mean spirited insults. Shuichi wondered how they did it without crying. Hell, Shuichi felt like he was going to cry just listening to them.

He kept telling himself they would make up eventually, that this argument would be the last one and next time they spoke they’d have gotten over it and they could go back to ignoring the rules of board games and arguing about the specifics of the Communist Manifesto. Then they could bake together again, and play dumb games together again, and everything else they liked to do before this mess started. That’s all Shuichi wanted. With every argument he sat through, he felt himself getting more and more anxious, more and more wound up.

He couldn’t remember how many arguments it had taken before he snapped.

“Ah sorry, what did you say? I couldn’t hear you through the creepy ass mask.”

“You are acting very immature. I was simply asking a question.”

“Huuuh? Can you repeat that? Maybe take off the mask this time, I’m telling the truth when I say it’s reeaaally hard to hear you through it. And it looks like shit.”

“I-! I will not be taking off my mask for you! Stop playing games with me!”

“Are you hiding something shifty under there? I’ll bet you are. Ooooh, wait, has Shuichi seen under it? Saihara-chan, when you two-”

_ “That’s enough!” _ He slammed his hands down onto the table and yelled. “I’m sick and tired of having to sit here and listen to you fight over stupid stuff! If you’re gonna be living under the same roof, you’re gonna have to get along. So either make up, or… or…” he trailed off. He hadn’t actually thought through what he was going to say. “I don’t know, just make up already! Please?”

Kiyo reached his hand out towards Shuichi, but stopped short. “Shuichi, I am so sorry, I hadn’t even considered how this might be affecting you-”

“Well, yeah, that’s pretty obvious,” he muttered, starting to become self conscious about his outburst.

Kiyo dropped his hand and looked at him with sad eyes. “I can assure you that was not our intention.”

“Don’t speak for me,” Kokichi snapped. He had his arms crossed over his chest and he had a scowl on his face.

“I’m sor-”

“Just shut up!” he yelled, and jumped up to shut himself in Shuichi’s room again. With how much time he spent hiding in there, it was starting to feel more like Kokichi’s room anyway. Maybe Shuichi should move in with Kiyo.

They stared at the closed door for a long moment before Kiyo sighed. “I feel terrible about having put you through Kokichi’s and my immature behavior these past few days.”

Shuichi hummed and cradled his head in his hands. “I just want things to go back to how they were before,” he said weakly.

“And I as well.”

They sat in melancholy silence, neither completely sure what to say. Shuichi felt tired from stress and frustration, all the adrenaline from their argument having left his body. He didn’t want to feel like he was living in a warzone anymore. He wanted Kiyo and Kokichi to make up so they could hang out again. But he didn’t know how to make that happen. He didn’t know if he was capable of making that happen, or if the other two even wanted him to get involved in the first place.

He hated this feeling, the feeling of not being in control, being powerless to help his friends. Or more, he was too afraid. Too scared to get caught up and have one or both of them hate him too. All he could do was wait and see. Wait for something to give, wait for something to change… it would happen eventually. That’s what he kept telling himself. Eventually.

──────────

“I’m leaving.”

Shuichi whipped his head up to look at the imp in shock. “You’re… leaving? What? Why?”

Kokichi looked at his nails with a haughty expression. “I decided that your whole… thing isn’t really for me. So I’m gonna move on. “

“You’re gonna… what, you’re just gonna leave and live via house hopping again?” Shuichi said dumbfounded. “I don’t- I don’t understand. Why?”

“What can I say? I’m a traveler at heart. I stay in one place for too long and I get restless.” Kokichi pouted exaggeratedly and shuffled his feet. “You should know all about that, right Kiyo-chan?”

The tall man looked up from where he was anxiously picking at the bandages on his hand at the mention of his name. “Yes, I do understand, but… I was unaware you enjoyed traveling so much. You’ve never mentioned it before; this sudden wanderlust seems to be coming out of nowhere.”

“Why is it so surprising there are things I haven’t told you? I don’t have to tell you everything about myself.”

“I find that hard to believe. I talk about my travels a lot, it seems odd it would never come up in conversation-”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

“Not necessarily.  _ Are _ you lying?”

“Guys, can we not right now?” Shuichi interrupted, throwing his hands up in frustration. “I’m not in the mood.” He was never in the mood for arguing, really, but especially not while he was processing the thought of Kokichi leaving.

He was confused. He had thought the imp was happy living with them, that he was happy to have a permanent place to live where he wasn’t forced to hide who he was. The way he looked when he told Shuichi about finally being able to bake again, and about how living with people who not only recognized his existence but understood it felt- had his feelings changed? Or had he been lying about them since the beginning?

Kiyo was right; his explanation for leaving did seem sudden, and he was known for lying. The only reason Shuichi could see for him to lie about leaving, however, was that he didn’t like him and/or Kiyo anymore and was leaving because he couldn’t stand to be around them, and he liked that possibility even less. He didn’t want Kokichi to leave at all, but it wouldn’t be fair to try and stop him if he really did want to go.

“...Are you sure about this, Kokichi?” he asked, silently hoping for an ‘it’s a lie!’ or ‘haha, just kidding!’, though he knew it was a longshot.

The imp stared at him with a blank face. Shuichi almost wondered if he had done something wrong, with how long he stared for, but then his face flipped into a bright smile. “Yep! 100% sure. I’ve even started thinking about where I’ll go next!”

Kiyo perked up a little at the mention of travel, though he still anxiously picked at his clothes. “When are you planning on leaving? I have been to all the surrounding areas, so I have much knowledge on the best sights to see. Not too far from this city there is-”

“Naw, I think I’m good,” Kokichi interrupted, scowling at Kiyo, who shrunk under his gaze. “I’m gonna leave soon. Maybe tomorrow? Day after? I dunno, whenever I feel like it, I guess.”

“T-Tomorrow?” Shuichi blurted out. “You can’t leave that soon!”

“What? Why?” Kokichi asked, looking legitimately confused.

“Ah…” He didn’t actually have a reason. He just wanted him to stay longer. “Because… um… Sonia’s office party! Yeah! She’d be so disappointed if you didn’t come, and you have to say goodbye to her and the rest of HPI.”

He narrowed his eyes at Shuichi, studying him. Crap, did his lie detection ability go off? He wasn’t technically lying about anything, but he wasn’t being entirely truthful either, so-

“I guess you’re right. Fine. I’ll wait until after the party. Just because I like parties.”

Shuichi was internally cheering. He wasn’t sure if Kokichi would care enough to stay for the party when he suggested it, but he was happy he was. Or at least said he was. Maybe he was lying about that.

It gave him time to process the thought of him leaving. One might find it strange that he had become so attached to the imp when he truly hadn’t known him for that long, but it was hard not to when he had such a large and commanding presence in their lives.

(It also gave him time to try and convince him not to leave, to try and figure out why he was so angry with them. Was he being clingy? Maybe. Did he have any right to convince him not to leave? Definitely not. Was he going to try anyway because he couldn’t handle saying goodbye? One hundred percent.)

“When is this party?” Kiyo asked. “I have noticed Sonia making efforts to prepare for it, but I am afraid I was not paying attention when she told me the exact date…”

“It’s this Friday,” Shuichi answered.

“She outright told you and you didn’t even listen?” Kokichi muttered, eyebrow twitching. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Sometimes I do not register when people are talking to me if I am working. It is a common-”

“Eh, never mind, I don’t care at all.”

He hopped up and shut himself in Shuichi’s room. Again.

“...That was sudden,” Shuichi remarked.

“And quite odd, really,” Kiyo added. “I have become used to him hiding in your room to avoid me- in fact, I was about to suggest we move somewhere with another bedroom if he was planning on staying with us, no point in doing that now I suppose- but this time it felt unprovoked. Did I say something wrong without noticing?”

“Ah, um, not in my opinion, no. I never seem to know what’s going on in Kokichi’s mind, though, so maybe you said something that offended him?”

Kiyo tilted his head and rested it in his hand, staring off into space. “Hmm… I wonder…”

Well, Shuichi knew when Kiyo had clocked out of a conversation. He almost felt bad, having introduced him to something negative to obsess over. Especially considering this particular obsession was “what did I do wrong?” which was not healthy for anyone, much less Kiyo who Shuichi was 90% sure was constantly silently wondering what he was doing wrong.

It was too late to stop him now. Might as well find a new true crime book to read and hope he didn’t stay up all night worrying about it.

──────────

Shuichi came out of his room the next day, having been kicked out once again by Kokichi so he could play video games in peace, to see Kiyo writing something with a fancy pen on some nice parchment.

“Uh… what are you writing?”

Kiyo looked up with mild surprise, having been so absorbed in his work. “Hello, Shuichi. I am writing a card for Kokichi’s present.”

“A card?” Shuichi walked behind him and peeked at it over his shoulder. It was less of a card and more of an essay, written in neat cursive. “That’s a lot of words for a holiday present card.”

“Is it?” He furrowed his brow and looked back down at his card. “I just wanted to explain to him the reasoning behind his gift.”

Oh. The horse symbolism, of course. Now it made a bit more sense. “But why can’t you just tell it to him when you give it to him?”

He averted his eyes, uncharacteristically shy. “I thought it would be better this way. He obviously has a problem with me of some sort, and either interrupts or outright complains about my lectures. If I write it down, he may read it at his own pace. And, well, if he decides to keep it when he leaves, it will be a nice reminder of me. Or I at least hope it is.” He picked up his pen to begin writing again, but stopped. “Is there anything you would like to say?”

“Huh? Me?”

“It is a gift from both of us, so you have the right to add to the card.”

“Oh, uh, thanks, but I don’t have anything to add.” That, and his averagely messy handwriting would look stupid next to Kiyo’s flowery cursive script and lacy purple cardstock.

“Hmm. I believe you should at least sign it.”

“Okay, that’s fair. I’ll sign it. How much more are you planning on writing?”

He tapped the end of his pen on the table and hummed thoughtfully. “Just one more thing.” He put the pen back to the paper and carefully wrote another line of perfectly neat cursive. Shuichi recognized it as a fact about the color purple that Kiyo had told him the other day at the mall. Underneath it, he signed his name with a flourish, then slid the paper and pen to his left in silent permission for Shuichi to sign.

He leaned down and signed underneath Kiyo’s fancy beautiful cursive with his own shaky-handed scrawl. He didn’t have time to stew on how horrible it clashed with the rest of the writing because Kiyo quickly slid the paper back towards him, picking it up and eyeing it closely before sliding the paper into a gift bag that Shuichi assumed contained the stuffed horse.

“Perfect. Thank you, Shuichi. Ah, actually, one more thing.”

Shuichi sat down next to him. “What is it?”

“Do you think…” He cleared his throat and looked down, an almost guilty look on his face. “At the office party, would you be willing to give this to Kokichi?”

So the reason he wrote a letter instead of saying it himself wasn’t because he didn’t want Kokichi to interrupt him, but because he wasn’t planning on giving it himself in the first place. Shuichi couldn’t say he was surprised, but it did make him sad to see Kiyo give up so easily. “Of course I can give it to him, but are you really sure you don’t want to do it yourself?”

“Ah, yes.” He nervously picked at his bandages. “I don’t want to risk doing anything that could offend him more.”

He looked so small, so unsure of himself. Shuichi was unused to seeing him like this. Kiyo very rarely wavered like he was now. He almost wanted to reach out and hug him, but he was afraid Kiyo would react poorly to it, so he held himself back. “If you’re sure, I’d gladly be the one to give it to him.”

He hummed in response, his eyes getting the glassy look they did when he retreated too far into his own thoughts.

Shuichi stayed sitting next to him in companionable silence. He wished he knew how to help. He wanted to know what was bothering Kokichi, and how to comfort Kiyo, and how to make things go back to how they were before.

Everything would settle down one way or another. If he kept telling himself that, then it would actually happen. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a little shorter again and it took so long :( but the next chapter is the office party and should hopefully be 1) much longer and 2) much easier to write. I've been looking forward to writing for a while, anyway.
> 
> Also, I think people have been a bit confused as to why Kokichi's so upset, and this chapter definitely didn't help. Apologies. I PROMISE it'll make sense eventually, and if it doesn't... well, that's just me not writing human emotions well. I'll be sure to explain it when the time comes.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiyo, Shuichi, and Kokichi go to the office party. Some realizations are had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I wrote like three iterations of this chapter, trying to get it perfect. It's still not but that's okay! It's a lot longer than my usual chapter length. There's also some art, but this art won't be posted on my Tumblr because ngl,,,, it's pretty lazy. Let's just say I've been playing too many video games and not doing enough art practice ^^;

“Kokichi, we’re going now! Come out of my room!”

The night of Sonia’s office party was upon them, and to Shuichi’s partial surprise, Kokichi actually had stayed so he could attend. They hadn’t seen much of him since he announced his plans to leave. Even when Shuichi went into a room that he was sure Kokichi was in, he somehow managed to disappear before Shuichi saw him. It was impressive, in a way, especially when the room he disappeared in only had one door. Maybe this had something to do with being an imp?

Well. Shuichi probably would never know, now that Kokichi refused to talk to him and was leaving.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” The door slammed and Kokichi came running out, tail waving behind him and looking the most excited he had been since he and Kiyo started fighting. It almost made him forget about the past week of anxiety. Almost.

The only strange thing was he was wearing a red turtleneck sweater with gold tinsel hand glued on the hems and slits cut out on the back for his wings to poke through. The sweater itself was way too big for him, his small body swimming in the extra fabric and the sleeves hiding his hands. Based on how big it was, it almost looked like…

“Is that my sweater?” Kiyo asked.

“What?” Kokichi whined. “I needed to wear something festive, and I don’t own anything like that! This was the best red I could find.” He tugged on the sweater and looked down at it with a pout.

“You’ve destroyed it.” Kiyo squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples. “You have cut holes in it and glued tinsel to it. I can never wear it again.”

“I think I look better in it anyway.” The imp twirled around and the fabric twisted around him, the tinsel glittering in the light. Kiyo sighed exasperatedly, and for a moment, it was almost like they were talking normally again. Perhaps Kokichi’s excitement was stopping him from inciting fights.

“Now come on, let’s go!” Kokichi skipped past them, going to open the door, but Kiyo grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“Kokichi. You have to hide your horns.”

Oh, yeah. Shuichi had become so used to seeing him with the horns and tail that he had forgotten most people would freak out if they saw them.

Kokichi wretched his hand away from Kiyo and glared at him. “I don’t need you to remind me. I’ve lived my whole life hiding these, I’m not about to forget.”

“Ah… yes, of course. I apolo-”

“Can it.” The imp opened the door and dashed out of it, leaving the two of them behind. The calm was nice while it lasted.

“...Alright. Let us follow,” Kiyo said.

Shuichi followed Kiyo out of their apartment and they started their walk to the office, trailing behind Kokichi who was marching proudly (or maybe stomping in frustration) ahead of them. He felt anxiety build up in his stomach as the silence allowed him to retreat into his own thoughts. Should he say something about their fight? No, Kiyo was just ignoring it, and it was far from the worst one he had seen, so mentioning it would just make it worse. What could he say, then? He had to say something, or else they would continue walking in silence and he would just get more and more anxious-

“Do you know who all is coming?” Kiyo interrupted his internal panic. “I find it hard to believe Sonia would invite just those working at HPI.”

“Oh, um, yeah, she told me.” Shuichi internally thanked him for giving him something to distract himself with. “Obviously there’s us, but I think Sonia invited a few other friends of hers, and she asked me to invite Kaito and Maki, so they’ll probably be there. And of course Miu and Kiibo, but I think you were there when she invited them?”

“I don’t think so. I do not remember it, at least.”

Shuichi hummed thoughtfully. “Now that I think about it, you had probably already gone into the archive room with Kokichi by that point.”

“Oh…” Kiyo’s eyes were starting to glaze over again. Uh oh, quick Shuichi, abort, abort! Bad thing to mention!

“Uh… it’ll be nice to see Kiibo again, right? I’m sure you have a lot more you want to talk with him about. You got along well.”

He perked up a little at that. “Yes, I am looking forward to it. I have done quite a bit of research into living machines in both mythology and fiction, along with living statues, dolls, and humans brought to life from inanimate objects. His main fear appears to be that being artificially made instead of born and not having living biology makes him less valid, less of a person. I thought finding some positive stories would make him feel more sure of himself. However, I was horrified to find how negative most of these stories are. Have you ever heard the original story of Pinocchio? It’s much different than most movie adaptations…”

He started listing off stories and different myths, a good albeit short distraction from all the stress Shuichi was sure he was feeling, even if he tried not to show it. Shuichi tried to pay attention to his stories (he actually  _ was  _ interested in his rant about the Pandora’s box story, thank you very much), but he found it hard when his mind wanted to constantly wander to the imp walking in front of him. He noticed Kokichi turn his head around, eyes excited and mouth open as though he was about to comment, but then he snapped it shut and furrowed his brow before once again looking straight ahead.

It confused him. Sometimes, Shuichi thought Kokichi always legitimately hated both he and Kiyo, and had been lying to them about his true feelings since the beginning. But many of his actions did not match up with that theory, like coming home and living with them in the first place. He might just be angry with them, but for the life of him Shuichi couldn’t figure out what they had done. Kiyo had snapped at him once, sure, but Kiyo snapped at everyone sometimes. He couldn’t see Kokichi getting so upset over that.

Shuichi was probably overthinking this, but it almost felt like Kokichi was pretending to be mad at them, or maybe even trying to convince himself to be mad. It was like Kokichi wanted to interact positively with them, but stopped himself. He didn’t know  _ why _ Kokichi would do that, or what had changed that made him want to do that, but Shuichi couldn’t think of many other plausible deductions with the evidence he had.

He belatedly realized he was using his detective brain to psychoanalyze his friends. Would that be considered rude? Probably.

Well, whether it was rude or not, his detective brain had deduced that maybe, just maybe, Kokichi was lying about being mad for one reason or another. And, if that was true, and Kokichi still liked them, it meant Shuichi still had a chance of convincing him to stay. All he had to do was figure out what was really going on in the imp’s mind.

Which was much easier said than done, to be fair.

Before he knew it, they were walking through the front doors of the office building. Kiyo was still talking about mythology, though the topic had shifted from manmade people to how sexism has changed modern day understandings of ancient religions. Shuichi felt a little bad that he hadn’t been listening closely enough to understand how he had gotten to that topic. Usually he listens intently to Kiyo’s lectures, but his mind had been otherwise… occupied.

“...The change from female oriented religion to male oriented religion likely has its roots in the invention of writing. Before it, religious stories and teachings were passed down verbally from mother to child. Once these stories began being passed down through the written word, of which only men had the privilege of learning, their meanings shifted to be more centered on men. I do find it so interesting how new inventions change cultures over time as a former anthropologist.” He continued his lecture as they descended the familiar stairs into the building’s basement.

The corners of Shuichi’s mouth quirked up slightly into a small smile. “It’s interesting even to someone who isn’t an anthropologist like me.”

Kiyo laughed softly. “You understand the importance of anthropology, Shuichi. You’re… special.”

Once again, Shuichi caught Kokichi half turning his head around as if he wanted to make a comment before quickly looking straight ahead again. Definitely strange.

They came up in front of the office door, which had been decorated with snowflakes and streamers and a sign that said “HPI Holiday Party!!!” in bright glittery blue with doodles of ghosts and demons around it. Obviously Sonia’s work.

“Interesting decor,” Kiyo muttered.

“It makes a little bit of sense though, given our line of work…” Shuichi said.

He opened the door to… well, if he wasn’t 100% sure it was the office, then he probably wouldn’t have recognized it. Streamers and hand cut snowflakes similar to the ones on the door hung from the ceiling, though she had also added some cartoonish ghosts. There were also cut paper pentagrams, though the work was considerably more shaky on those, so Shuichi assumed they were likely done by Gundham.

Pictures were taped up on the walls, all ones Sonia had taken of them. He’d have to take a closer look at them later; he noticed Sonia was always holding up her phone while they worked cases, likely taking the pictures that were now on the walls. There were bound to be some good ones there.

Hajime’s  folding table desk had been moved to the side of the room, a white tablecloth draped over it with tons of snacks, including a lot of homemade treats. Had Sonia really done all of this?

“Shuichi! Korekiyo!” Sonia ran up to them looking very excited, Gundham and another pink haired man coming up behind her. “Welcome! I hope you enjoy the party. I put a lot of effort into it.”

“I can tell.” Shuichi gave her a warm smile. “I’m very impressed. It looks great in here.”

“I am very happy to hear you say that, Shuichi! I spent a long time baking cookies for it… I do not believe they are as good as Kokichi’s, but they are good!”

Kokichi laughed. “No one makes cookies as good as me! Not even if you tried.”

She beamed at them before gasping. “Oh! I would like you to meet Kazuichi!” She gestured to the pink haired man behind her. “He is a friend of ours. I have invited him to visit the office before, but…”

“The Tamer of Automations has a weak heart, and cowers at the thought of the creatures of the night,” Gundham finished for her. 

“H-Hey!” Kazuichi squeaked. “Don’t introduce me like that! I’m not a coward, I just get a little freaked out by the stuff you do here.”

“Are those not the same thing?” Kiyo asked.

“Those mean the same thing,” Kokichi said at the same time. They looked at each other quickly before looking back at Kazuichi.

“Ugh.” He grimaced. “I knew I should have had Hajime introduce me instead.”

“It’s no big deal,” Shuichi assured him. “I have a friend who’s terrified of occult stuff, even though he’ll never admit it, and it took me forever to get him to visit the office. It’s not like we have any scary creatures here.”

“Other than me!” Kokichi put his hands up like claws, a demonic expression on his face, horns and tail unleashed.

Kazuichi screamed in surprise and hid behind Sonia and Gundham. “Miss Sonia, you lied to me! There  _ are _ demons here!”

Wow, that was… eerily similar to Kaito.

Also… Miss Sonia? What was that all about?

“No worries, Kazuichi,” Kiyo waved dismissively. “He is no demon. Demons are much scarier.”

“You fucking suck.” Kokichi crossed his arms and sneered. He hopped away to bother Hajime, who was talking with an unfamiliar girl in a hoodie and a shorter man in a pinstripe suit.

“Ah… Are you two still…?” Sonia trailed off, but her question was evident. Kokichi’s anger had been obvious to everyone when they visited the office, especially his anger directed towards Kiyo.

“Yes… unfortunately. Ah, actually-” Shuichi stopped. Was it his place to tell them about Kokichi’s plans to leave?

No, that was something he should leave for Kokichi to tell them. “Never mind.”

“I see.” Sonia nodded solemnly. “That is unfortunate indeed. However, this is a party! We should be happy and celebrating. Not moping about!”

“That’s right! I dunno what your deal is, but Miss Sonia spent a long time setting up this party and we’re not gonna waste it!” Kazuichi gave a thumbs up, attempting to be reassuring.

The office doors opened again, and Kaito and Maki walked through. Kaito smiled once he saw Shuichi, walking up to him and clapping him on the back.

“Yo! How’ve you been, sidekick?”

Shuichi laughed. “Once again, you text me every day. You always know how I’ve been.”

“And once again, it’s different actually seeing you!” He turned his head to the others in their circle. “Happy holidays, guys!”

“Yes! Happy holidays!” Sonia agreed cheerfully.

“It has been a while, Luminary of the Stars.” Gundham nodded an acknowledgement. “What dastardly adventures have you encountered since I last saw your face?”

“Tanaka Gundham, Supreme Overlord of Darkness!” He grinned. “Just more astronaut training, same old, same old. I’m just itchin’ for the day they get me into space, you feel me? Tired of screwing around on Earth!”

“I, too, understand that feeling,” Kiyo said. “When you are a traveler at heart, an unbearable urge to leave comes when you are bound to home… I assume that must be the feeling an astronaut gets when chained to the ground.”

“Yes! Exactly!” He clapped Kiyo on the back as well, whose eyes widened as he stumbled forward, grabbing Kaito’s wrist to stop himself from completely falling.

_ “Do that again and you will no longer be physically able to,” _ he hissed darkly, grip tightening on his wrist until Maki wretched his hand away.

“Do you want to die?” She glared at him.

Kaito awkwardly laughed, pulling Maki away from the other. “H-Hey, no big deal! I forgot you didn’t like that, Kiyo. I’m sorry. Won’t happen again.”

Kiyo just rubbed the spot where Kaito had touched him, muttering something under his breath.

The door behind them slammed open. “The party’s officially started, fuckers!” Miu laughed as she strutted into the room, commanding everyone’s attention with her loud entrance. Kiibo awkwardly shuffled in behind her.

“Ewww, the slut’s back!” Kokichi stuck his tongue out at her. “Party’s over, guys. Time to go home!”

“Aww, baby Cockichi, don’t pretend like you didn’t miss me!” She skipped over to him before leaning down and whispering something into his ear.

His face went blank before twisting into a disgusting expression. “Of course not, you bitch! Though… I might consider it if you buy me food.”

She winked and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. “Gotcha.”

And that ended… whatever that was. The murmurs of conversations started up again as people quickly forgot about Miu’s loud entrance. Shuichi wondered what she had whispered to Kokichi. Something about the fight they had a while ago? Most likely. He seemed to receive it well, so she must have eased his anger. If only Shuichi could figure out how to do the same…

“Ah… Korekiyo?” Kiibo said softly. When had he walked up to them?

“Just Kiyo is fine,” he waved his hand. “How do you do?”

Kiibo smiled. “Alright, Kiyo, then. I have been well. I was feeling slightly down, but what you told me of the true meaning of humanity makes me feel more sure of myself. I wanted to thank you.”

“There is no need to thank me. It was my pleasure. In fact, I would love to teach you more, if you are truly interested.”

Kiibo’s eyes practically shined. In fact, they might have  _ actually _ shined, but it was hard to tell in the bright artificial light. “I would love nothing more than to hear your stories!”

“Ah! Wait!” Sonia exclaimed. “Before you go off with him, I must give you something. Just a moment!” She ran into the back room before she came back holding a picture frame close to her chest.

“I am sure you have noticed the pictures I have put up all around the room. Since we are nearing the end of the year, I thought it would be nice to compile all the pictures I have taken of us since I joined HPI. There are many of you two, of course, but… I framed my favorite to give to the both of you.”

She turned the frame around and handed it to Shuichi, whose face turned bright red when he saw the picture she had chosen. Oh… he remembered when this one was taken.

It was after an intense demon exorcism. They had all five HPI members there, having anticipated it to be difficult, but since Hajime, Gundham, and Sonia had never worked with demons before, especially not one this powerful, Kiyo and Shuichi ended up pulling most of the weight anyway. (Not that they disliked that. The more work, the more fun in their eyes.)

The picture was taken after the long and grueling case, which had taken 18 hours or more to complete in the end. Shuichi remembered it felt somewhere between the euphoria of getting off an overnight plane flight and the agony of getting hit by a truck. Or at least how he assumed getting hit by a truck felt like. Blood stained their torn clothes, and Shuichi remembered being extremely concerned about whose blood it was but also too tired to check for wounds. You could feel the exhaustion they were feeling through the picture, through their expressions and their posture. Shuichi wanted to say he didn’t understand why this was Sonia’s favorite picture, except…

Framed in the middle of the image was he and Kiyo, sitting with their backs against the wall behind them. Kiyo had long since fallen asleep, and had fallen over to lean heavily on Shuichi, his cheek resting on Shuichi’s head. Shuichi was leaning into him as well, but he was obviously awake, giving a small wave and tired, half lidded smile to the camera. His face was flushed, and if you asked him he’d probably tell you it was out of exhaustion, but at the time it was because he was absolutely revelling in the moment. The moment that Shuichi had thought Kiyo would never know about since he was sleeping the entire time and he had been completely unaware that when Sonia held her phone up she was actually taking a picture of them.

“I… do not remember this,” Kiyo muttered. “Why are we covered in blood?”

“You were fast asleep when I took the picture. It only makes sense you wouldn’t remember it.” Sonia frowned and grabbed her arm. “I realize the circumstances of the photo were not the best. You had, after all, just finished a long fight with a demon. But… look at how cute you are! Despite all that, this remains the most ‘adorbs’ picture I have of you!”

Kaito leaned over his shoulder to peek at the photo. “The blood is a bit off putting, but it is overall a nice picture.” He nudged Shuichi lightly and winked at him, who bit back a groan in response.

“Ah… um… thank you for the picture, Sonia?” Shuichi said, unsure of himself. “I’m sure we’ll find a nice place to hang this up…” He looked up awkwardly at Kiyo, searching for any sign as to how he might be feeling. He hoped Kiyo wouldn’t think it was weird, or think  _ he _ was weird, or creepy, or completely saw through his feelings for him and rejected him completely-

His panicked thoughts were interrupted as Kiyo hummed thoughtfully. “I agree. This is a lovely picture, Sonia. Even with the blood…” he trailed off as he started mumbling incoherently under his breath.

“I was unaware the two of you were romantically involved,” Kiibo said, pointing at the photo. “I am sorry, as a robot, I sometimes miss these things.”

“Oh, ah hah, you didn’t miss anything!” Shuichi waved his hands frantically, voice wavering with anxiety. “We’re not, um, we’re not dating.”

“You aren’t?” Sonia gasped. “This whole time, I had assumed… You are truly not dating?”

“Wait, this  _ whole time?” _ Shuichi exclaimed. “As in, since you started working here months ago?!”

“The she-cat was not alone in her assumption.” Gundham crossed his arms and nodded. “I too thought you were tied with the red string of fate.”

Shuichi put his head in his hands. “This whole time…”

“Was it the wrong assumption? You go on dates all the time, you live together, you are closer with each other than anyone else… Are you sure you are not dating?”

Kaito nudged him, and Shuichi looked up to see a wide, teasing grin on his face. “I told you, sidekick. It’s obvious.”

“I… is it really… Kiyo?” Shuichi looked to him for backup.

“Well…” Kiyo averted his eyes and pink peeked out over the mask covering his face. “We are not together in any official capacity, no.”

“In any ‘official capacity’,” Kaito said smugly. “What exactly does that mean?”

“Well- I admit we do act as though-” he stuttered, “that is to say- Let us just say, I am not completely against the thought.”

Shuichi laughed loudly and nervously, heat rushing to his face. “Okay! Is that all you wanted, Sonia?”

“That is all I had for you, yes” Sonia smiled graciously, despite the awkward situation she had unleashed upon him. “Feel free to go enjoy yourselves now! But do be sure to take a look at the pictures I have taken. If you see one you like, I am more than willing to get you a copy.”

“I will be sure to ask you if I see one, then,” Kiyo said, clearing his throat and doing his best to retain some amount of dignity. “Now what was I doing…? Ah, right. Kiibo. I did some research on stories that may pertain to you, but I am afraid you may not like my findings.”

“That is alright. I would like to hear them anyway. It would be a shame for all your research to go to waste!”

Kiyo led Kiibo away from their circle to rant with him about what Kiibo was calling “robophobia” in fiction. Shuichi was both glad to be momentarily separated from Kiyo and upset that they couldn’t clear up this slightly awkward situation now. Oh, well. They could just as easily talk about it later. It wasn’t  _ that _ big of a deal.

Well. It kind of was, but not enough that it couldn’t wait.

“Well that was weird,” Kazuichi observed. “You’re all weird. Quite the… colorful cast of characters.”

“You say that as if you are not colorful yourself, you shark-blooded fiend.” Gundham laughed darkly. “Your mane is the same shade as the shrimp-eating avian beast.”

“Shrimp-eating avian- are you calling me a flamingo?!”

“Perhaps. Am I incorrect?”

“Well, no, but- It’s the principle of the matter!”

Kaito tapped his chin. “I dunno if I would call it flamingo colored. I think it’s even brighter than that. It’s like… the color of those highlighters your teacher made you use in high school.”

Kazuichi stared at the astronaut, mouthing hanging open in an exasperated expression. “...Never mind. I’d rather be a flamingo. At least they’re like, kinda cool.”

Shuichi laughed quietly. Maybe they were right; he had some problems he needed to work out, but they could wait for a little while. Might as well enjoy the party.

──────────

The one problem Shuichi always had with office parties was that they were highly social events, and Shuichi was very much an introvert. Back when he was dragged along to work parties with his uncle at the station, he had the same problem- it was fun making meaningless conversation for a little while, but he got tired and anxious quickly, always ending up on the sidelines.

Despite the fact that everyone at this party was either a friend or a close friend of a friend, his socially awkward introverted ways were the same. So, even though he enjoyed interacting with these people more than the people who worked at the station, he still ended up sitting and watching his more social friends talk than actually interacting with them himself.

Now he was leaning against the wall, nibbling on a cookie and observing his friends’ interesting and chaotic conversations. Kaito, Miu, and Kazuichi were discussing the possibility of sneaking into the space center to take apart a rocket ship while Kiibo and Maki attempted to dissuade them from doing something extremely illegal and landing themselves in prison. Gundham and Kiyo were engaged in a difficult-to-follow conversation filled with confusing metaphors and long words about summoning rituals while Hajime’s friend in the hoodie (Chiaki, he remembered) nodded along, obviously not understanding the conversation and possibly falling asleep. Hajime, Sonia, and Hajime’s other friend Fuyuhiko (who frankly scared the shit out of Shuichi) were in the corner having a polite and quiet conversation he couldn’t hear from where he was standing.

The only other wallflower was, surprisingly, Kokichi. Usually excited and commanding, the imp was avoiding any social interaction while sulking on the ground over a plate of Sonia’s baked sweets. There was a bit of emotional dissonance in seeing such a loud personality sitting alone at a social gathering, especially looking so down. Maybe Shuichi could cheer him up…? He might get upset with him if he tried, though. But now that he was alone, it would be a good time to give him their gift, and maybe that could segue into finding out what was bothering him so much.

It was better than sitting alone, he figured, as he made his way over to the imp. He slid down the wall and sat next to him. Kokichi side eyed him but didn’t say anything.

Shuichi patted his hands against his legs anxiously. How does one start a conversation? He was used to having someone else start them for him.

“So, uh… Are you enjoying the party?” he said with a wavering voice.

Kokichi sighed and shoved a cookie into his mouth. “What do you want, Shuichi?” he mumbled.

“Ah…” So they were skipping the small talk. That’s okay, small talk made him anxious anyway. “Remember when we went to the mall the other day?”

“Wish I didn’t,” he huffed.

“Oh, um, right. I guess there are some bad memories associated with that, huh…”

Kokichi laughed. “Did you forget about your boyfriend’s accident? Idiot.”

“I didn’t  _ forget _ about it. My mind has just been elsewhere.”  _ Like how you’ve been feeling, _ he didn’t add.

“Elsewhere, other than the love of your life? Did you hook up with someone else, or something?”

“Excuse me? Not everything is about-” he snapped before stopping himself, taking a deep breath and starting again. “No, wait, I’m not taking the bait, I’m not going to get mad. I came over here for this.” He dropped the gift bag into the other’s lap. “Happy holidays.”

“I thought I told you I didn’t need a gift.” Kokichi grumbled, but the small quirk of his lips betrayed the excitement he was trying to hide.

“We wanted to give you something anyway.”

“I didn’t get you anything.”

Liar. Shuichi knew for a fact he had spent over an hour looking for gifts at the mall, even if he wasn’t planning on giving them.

Kokichi carelessly threw the tissue paper separating him from the present onto the ground next to him, and pursed his lips as he lifted the purple horse out of the bag. “A… stuffed toy?”

Shuichi scratched anxiously at his face. “I, um, thought you might like something like that, and it’s small enough that, uh, it can fit in your backpack. When you…” he trailed off, but it was obvious what he meant.  _ When you leave. _

The imp scoffed and he blushed lightly. “I’m not a little kid,” he argued, but he held the horse close to his chest as he pulled the card (i.e. sheet of cardstock) from the bag.

“I should probably explain,” Shuichi realized. “I came up with the stuffed animal idea, but Kiyo picked the animal, and he wrote his reasoning down for you.”

Kokichi frowned as he flipped the card over. “Why write it down? Why not just- oh, right.”

He tapped his leg anxiously again. “I mean, if you asked him now, I’m sure he would still-”

“No, no, that’s okay, I don’t actually care.” Kokichi took one last long look at the card before putting it face down on the ground. He wrapped both arms around the horse and stared ahead blankly. A dense air settled between them.

“Kokichi, why are you leaving?” Shuichi said quietly.

“Huh? Does it matter? It’ll be better for the both of us.”

“Better for the- what do you mean by that?”

“Well, I get to be free to go wherever I want, and then you won’t have to deal with me anymore. We both win.” Kokichi fidgeted with the foot of the horse, brow furrowed.

‘Deal with him’? Shuichi was confused. Where was this coming from? “Kokichi, do you think I  _ want _ you to leave?”

“...Kiyo does, and if he does, then you do too.”

“What gave you that idea?!” Shuichi said, maybe a little too loudly.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe all the times he’s threatened me, once with an actual knife? Or all the times he’s pushed me away when I’ve tried to touch him? All the times he’s lied to me about weird stuff that shouldn’t matter? Or, just maybe, the fact that he blamed  _ me _ for him losing that stupid Kumi-hoe fox spirit thing that I didn’t even know about, despite the fact that it was one, your fault he lost it, and two, would have killed him if he didn’t?” Kokichi grimaced. “And then when we started fighting, and you got sick of it, so of course you’d want me gone to keep your boyfriend appeased. I’ll just leave on my own before I get kicked out.”

“I… Okay, wow, there are so many things wrong with everything you just said,” Shuichi said, still trying to process everything. “How long have you been thinking about this?”

“Believe it or not, Shuichi, but I’m very observant. I can tell when I’m not wanted.”

“Well obviously not, since you’re wrong.” Shuichi felt his anxiety melt away with a newfound vigor to set things right now that he knew the exact problem. “Neither me nor Kiyo dislike you. Neither of us want you gone. In fact, I think you’re great, and I’m sure Kiyo does as well. In fact, he’s been wrecked since you two started fighting.”

“Has he?” Kokichi’s voice was expressionless.

“Yeah. That’s probably something you should talk to him about though. I can tell you with certainty that he’s not gonna kick you out, and neither am I. We like having you around.”

Kokichi just hummed in response.

“If you know we want you to stay… you will stay?” Shuichi asked cautiously. He didn’t want Kokichi to think he was pressuring him into staying if he did actually want to leave (though he suspected that wasn’t the case).

“...Can we go home?”

“Oh! Um, yeah, of course! I’m kinda done with this party too, and I’ve already looked at all of Sonia’s pictures so she won’t be mad at us for leaving, and I’m sure Kiyo will be okay with going now, and I already-”

“Shuichi. Chill.”

“Ah, um, right. Okay, lemme just grab Kiyo, then we can leave.”

──────────

The walk back to their apartment was quiet. When Kiyo saw Kokichi holding tightly onto the horse plushie, his eyes lit up, but he refrained from saying anything. Not surprising, considering he was still running under the assumption that Kokichi was upset with him. An incredibly false assumption that Shuichi was determined to dissolve tonight.

He may have anxiety and struggle with social situations, but he was a problem solver at heart. He  _ was _ an ex-detective who became a paranormal investigator, after all. If there was one thing he excelled at, it was finding solutions to problems, and if there was one thing he hated, it was having a problem he didn’t know how to solve. For a long time, Kokichi’s unwarranted anger was a problem that Shuichi could not solve, but now he had the answer, and he was determined to use it.

At least Kokichi didn’t seem quite as upset at the moment. Instead of wearing a taunting smirk or a menacing snarl like he had the entire past week, his face was blank and contemplative. That was probably a good sign, right?

Honestly, Shuichi still didn’t completely understand how this misunderstanding happened. Though he could see why someone may mistakenly believe Kiyo hated them, he had thought Kokichi understood him better than that now. That, and he had no idea what made Kokichi think they wanted to kick him out. No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t think of anything. Maybe that was something to ask him about.

They arrived at the apartment, and just as Shuichi was going over how to start the necessary conversation in his head, Kokichi started it for him.

“Alright, Shuichi clued me in on some insider info, and now I wanna ask some questions. I’ll be straight with you, you be straight with me, no lies, okay?” He jabbed his finger at each of them pointedly, an unusually serious expression on his face.

“Ah… alright?” Kiyo put his hands up in a small surrender. His eyes flicked to Shuichi, who could only shrug in return.

Kokichi eyed him for a second. “...Do you want me to leave?”

“Is…” Kiyo furrowed his brow and looked around a moment, confused. “Is this a trick question?”

“I just wanna know.”

Kiyo hummed and fidgeted with his pendant. “I… would not stop you from leaving if you wanted to. I certainly would be happy if you stayed, but I understand having an urge to travel, and you should not be stuck somewhere you do not like. Though even if you left, you would always be welcome back.”

“Oh.” Kokichi looked down and tapped his chin, a blank expression on his face. It was like he hadn’t gotten the answer he was expecting, and now had to rethink his response. “So what you’re saying is… even if I left, you’d let me come back and live with you again?”

“Of course. A traveler always needs a home base. I’m sure Shuichi agrees, yes?”

“Well yeah, obviously. Though I would prefer it if you stayed.” Shuichi gave a small, awkward smile.

Kokichi stared at them blankly, unsure how to respond. He stood there spacing out for so long that Shuichi was tempted to wave his hand in front of his face to snap him back to reality. 

“Well, if you want me to stay so bad,” he started after a long moment of thinking, “I’ll stay. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I left you here sad and alone, knowing you’d miss me so badly! Though now that I’m staying, we’re gonna have to change a few things. Firstly, Shuichi’s gonna have to move into Kiyo’s room so that-”

“Slow down,” Kiyo interrupted him. “I don’t understand the reasons behind your choices. I demand a real explanation.”

“Real explanation? I don’t know what you mean. I’m just staying out of the goodness of my own heart!”

“No, he’s lying,” Shuichi cut in. “He wanted to leave because he thought we hated him.” Kokichi gave him a sharp glare, and he added, “Sorry, Kokichi. We’ve gotta settle this now before it happens again.”

“Wait, you thought I hated you?” Kiyo’s eyes widened in shock. “Whatever gave you that impression?”

“Well, after talking to Shuichi, I realized they were all pretty stupid reasons,” Kokichi muttered, face slightly red with embarrassment. “It sounds dumb, but… I’m just a little sensitive.” His voice lowered until he was almost too quiet to hear. He looked smaller and more vulnerable than Shuichi had ever seen him. His face was completely hopeless, as if being this emotionally open was the worst thing he’d ever done. Based on the behavior Shuichi was used to seeing from him, that was probably true.

“I must wholeheartedly apologize for whatever I must have done to make you believe I did not like you.” Kiyo bowed his head slightly. “I can say with complete certainty it was not my intention. I greatly enjoy your company.”

“Woah, hey, wait, it’s not your fault!” Kokichi rushed forward and grabbed Kiyo’s arm, making him jump and stumble back. “It’s  _ my _ fault for being stupid and overly sensitive! You didn’t do anything!”

“I must have done something-”

“You didn’t, I was just-”

“I can’t possibly believe-”

“Okay, okay,” Shuichi stopped them. “Although this is definitely an improvement from the arguments you have been having, I don’t think arguing over blame is a good thing to do either.”

“You’re probably right,” Kokichi said. “But it’s definitely my fault for being sensitive.”

“Sensitivity is not something to be ashamed of. Sensitivity is one of humanity's greatest strengths, and sensitivity is a beautiful thing.”

“Yeah, yeah, because humanity is beautiful, I got it,” Kokichi waved him off dismissively, but Shuichi could see the small smile on his face.

“I am serious about taking over Shuichi’s room though,” he added. “Kiyo-chan’s bed is perfectly big enough to accommodate two people. Especially with how he sleeps.”

Kiyo snapped his gaze down to Kokichi, who was still holding onto his arm. “Do you watch me while I sleep?”

“Do you really want to know the answer to that, Kiyo-chan? Do you?”

“Yes, actually.”

“Oh. Well, too bad! Because I’m not telling you the answer. Is it really that big of a deal to share a bedroom with your boyfriend?”

Ah, right. Boyfriend. He had been so worried about Kokichi that he momentarily forgot about that awkward conversation the photo had sparked earlier. They should probably talk about that soon.

He took the picture out and looked at it as he thought. ‘Not together in any official capacity’, but also ‘not against the thought’. That meant good things, right? That meant he would be okay with dating Shuichi. Unless Shuichi was being too hopeful… but how many ways were there to interpret Kiyo’s words? Not a lot, that’s for sure.

“Oooh, is that the thing Sonia gave you? I saw she gave you something.” Kokichi hopped over to Shuichi to look at the photo, and burst out laughing once he saw it. “Aww, how sweet!” he cooed sarcastically. “And you say he’s ‘not your boyfriend’.”

“Ah, he’s not my boyfriend in any official capacity…” Shuichi looked shyly at Kiyo and scratched his face, “but he could be?”

Damn, he hoped that sounded smooth.

Kiyo laughed breathily and shrugged. “Why not? Apparently, we already act as though we are.”

“Yes. Yes you do.” Kokichi slapped Shuichi’s arm. “You two are ridiculous. How did it take this long?”

“Now that I’m looking back on it… I don’t know,” Shuichi admitted.

“So…” Kokichi kicked the ground, a sly smile on his face. “Does this mean you’ll sleep in the same room from now on? Because I want your room. I’m tired of sneaking into your beds at night.”

Kiyo crossed his arms. “I’ve never woken up to find you in my bed. You are lying.”

“Hmm. Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps you’ve just never caught me.”

Shuichi blanked. “That is extremely concerning, Kokichi.”

“Just more incentive to give me your room!”

“I was thinking before that we might move to a larger apartment, actually.” Kiyo fiddled with his pendant as he spoke. “Money may be a bit tight for a while, but it would be worth it in the long run.”

“No, we can stay here! It’s plenty big enough for three,” Kokichi argued.

“But then no one would have to share rooms. Everyone would have their own privacy. Is that not the preferred arrangement?”

“But this one is within walking distance of so many places, and both of you hate driving. Are you going to be able to find another location like this? No. You won’t. Just sleep in the same room and I can take Shuichi’s. Or, if you’d prefer, I could sleep with you instead?”

“That is unnecessary.”

“Oooh, you’re blushing! I bet you secretly do want to sleep with Shuichi.”

“Must you phrase it like that?”

Kokichi and Kiyo continued bickering, and Shuichi breathed a sigh of relief. Normalcy had been restored.

A big, stupid grin crossed his face. Normalcy, and a little extra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be when Kokichi talked about his backstory but I decided that it would be uncharacteristic for him to talk about it yet. That, and a LOT of other stuff was already going on in this chapter and I didn't want to oversaturate it. Like Shuichi and Kiyo actually getting together! They seemed like the pair to be obviously dating without actually realizing it themselves, on Shuichi's side because of ~social anxiety~ and on Kiyo's side because he's always observing others and rarely looking inward.
> 
> I was really concerned about characters being OOC in this chapter, especially Kokichi. I think I rewrote the more serious scenes with him at least twice each trying to get him right. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but I think I did the best I could with my current abilities. (There's always room for improvement!)
> 
> It might seem pretty obvious with this chapter, but this specific fic is going to be ending soon. Do not worry, the story isn't over yet! I planned while outlining this that there was going to be a more Kiyo-centric sequel where I get to go into as many Kiyo backstory headcanons as I want. The reasons it's going to be a separate story is because 1) I already have a title picked out and I want to use it goddammit, 2) this was really supposed to be more about Kokichi's introduction with hints of other things leading into the next fic, and 3) the next fic is going to be either Kiyo POV or switching POV and it wouldn't feel right all of a sudden switching POV this late into a fic.


End file.
